Meetings of a Bear and a Fox
by Kitsunie
Summary: Just unrelated entries or snippets of the lives of Ulfric Stormcloak and my Dovahkiin Koudelka. Each chapter has it's own individual rating, so if you don't like M, you can still sort and read each entry to your leisure and get a full story because none are based off another. Rated overall M for safety due to the few upcoming M chapters.
1. Babysitting

A/N, **please read**!: This story is made up of small drabbles, entries, or snippets of the lives of Ulfric and my made up Dragonborn, Koudelka. Each chapter is a new part and **none** **are necessarily related**. Please do not complain that I'm bouncing around too much, because I write them as they come to me and make no attempt to relate them. However I may mention an event of a previous entry in a newer entry. That's because a character involved is remembering a past time. **Not** because the newer entry is continued off of a previous one! Also, these are not meant to be a set amount of words or lengths. They go on for whatever length they need to go on for. Some could be 54 words and some could be 2,000 words. Also each chapter will have its **own rating** so pay attention to it! It's offical rating is M for safe overall rating, but if you're not interested in actual M, you can still read some chapters! Just check each rating. :) It will be the last thing I list before each chapter.

Evenfurthermore! Koudelka may not be what you'd... Expect from a Dovahkiin. She's playful and vivacious as you'll find out.

Thank you for listening to my rampage! :D onto less serious matters!

This is only my second go at anything on FF, so don't mind too much. It has no beta, so if an error is bothering anyone, feel free to **private message** me or send me an **email**! :)

Please enjoy and all reviews are valued! It's really encouraging to have feedback!

Disclaimer: I do not own or profit off anything I'm writing. However Koudelka is **mine** and you may not use or take her for your leisure. Thank you! Also to clarify, this Koudelka is NOT the Koudelka from the PS1 game. They have zero relation.

Now that this authors note is as long as the first chapter... Let's begin!(Future A/N will probably not be this long, sorry! :3)

Chapter rating: K-13 for suggestive themes. Nothing heavy.

* * *

Koudelka smiled cleverly as she sauntered over to the throne, receiving the green glare from the High King with figuratively open arms.

"Where have you been the past two weeks?" Ulfric questioned shortly, causing her grin to fault in a mocking way. She climbed the small steps up to the throne and pushed his heavy arm out of the way, perching herself on the wide arm of his throne. The gawk from Jorleif and the loss of posture from the guards was amusing.

"Oh Ulfric, you know I'm a very busy woman... I have to check on things in many other places. After all..."

His glare turned harsher.

"I am the Harbinger of the Companions."

Darker glare.

"I lead the Thieves Guild."

Darker.

"I'm both leader and Listener of the Dark Brotherhood."

She wondered how long until his green eyes bore black.

"Let's not forget I'm the one and only Dovahkiin."

Ohhh if looks could kill.

"And lastly I spend much of my valuable time babysitting the High King. From the shadows, of course. So he feels like a big boy." She smiled sweetly. Or he at least assumed she did by the look in her eyes and the way her cheeks moved. Damn that cowl.

His hand had this odd habit of meeting his face when she was around, the two had become well acquainted. There it goes again.

"And from the looks of what I laid eyes upon this morning," she leaned towards him and whispered, "he's a _very_ big boy indeed." His breath hitched and her insane grin broke out behind her Brotherhood cowl she always wore.

He shoved her easily off his throne onto the floor where she practically howled with laughter. Ulfric placed his hand in such a way so his lips were hiding between the area of his index finger and thumb, successfully disguising his large smile at the humorous twenty year old on the floor.

He reduced his smile to a smirk and held a hand over the side of his throne, waiting until he felt a much smaller hand in his own before pulling the still giggling woman up in one yank. She swiftly returned to her perch.

The High King cupped her face in his right hand. "You need to learn to hold your tongue, my dear."

The assassin leaned into his surprisingly gentle touch. "Make me."

Ulfric's smirk widened.

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I hope you enjoyed! Please don't forget to leave a review! See you next time!


	2. Here Kitty Kitty!

A/N: Normally I wouldn't update this fast, but why not give a little something more when you have two hours of study? I have the next 2 ready too. But I gotta edit them still! I hope to hear from some readers!

Disclaimer: I do not own or profit off anything I'm writing. However Koudelka is mine and you may not use or take her for your leisure. Thank you!

Chapter rating: K. Nothing bad in this chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

"M-My Lord! She's gone mad!" A frantic guard cried as he ran into Ulfric's chamber, causing the man to rub his eyes from the chair he was reading in.

"And I suppose this bout of madness would be a reasonable excuse to come screaming and barging into my chambers, soldier?" The man nodded excessively.

"She's brought a- a saber cat into the Palace, sir!" Ulfric dead panned. This woman would be the death of him. And if this was true, herself also.

He stood and began his walk to the throne room, questioning the guard as they descended the stairs. "Why didn't you kill the beast?"

The young man glanced at Ulfric from under his hide helmet. "... She had her bow out." He replied hesitantly "She threatened to send us all to Sovngarde if we hurt it..."

Ulfric let out a chuckle. "Yes... That bow can be terrifying. The daggers are not very nice either."

When they reached the strategy room, Ulfric found himself stopped by an amused looking Galmar and saw a horrified looking Jarleif. The small steward was attempting to look over the maps to make it seem he wasn't worried. An amusing site indeed. He turned his attention back to his general when he spoke. "I don't know if you'll be able to handle this one, old friend." He muttered.

"In a good or bad way?"

"Ha! Go and find out. If you manage it, I'll owe you a drink!"

"You're going to be in dept to me in mead soon, dear Galmar."

The High King did just as Galmar suggested after his parting words. He pushed the door open and stared at the conflicting scene before him.

Oh, it was a saber cat alright. Snowy and the biggest Ulfric had ever laid eyes upon. And Koudelka was seated leaning back against it while it rested on the side of its stomach. The most... Comical perhaps? Part about it was the large venison chop in her lap that she was cutting chunks off of with an ebony dagger. She passed the bits of meat to her side for the cat, who took it gently.

The assassin on the floor by his throne stole a glance at the large Nord in the doorway, her eyes lighting up softly in silent greeting before going back to her cat, like it was normal.

The man cleared his throat, calling both Koudelka's and the cat's attention. "That is a saber cat." She fixed him its a flat stare.

"Yes, Ulfric. This is a saber cat," she pointed to the trademark bear shield above his throne "that is a bear," she finally pointed at him, "and you are a fool." The small assassin giggled.

The High King sighed. "Yes, but how in the world-"

"Kyne's Peace."

"Excuse me?"

"Kyne's Peace. It's a Thu'um. Calms the beasts of the wild or causes some of them to flee. The effects only last a few hours, but turns out sabers are rather friendly and cute when they're not trying to tear your insides out for dinner...," she trailed off as if remembering something fond, "he's grown attached to me even after the effects have worn off." She turns kohl-lined green eyes to him. "Keep him safe while I'm gone? He can stay in the courtyard-"

"Absolutely not. It, he, is a wild beast and many of my men are out battling rouge Imperial camps. My remaining men guarding the Palace and city cannot risk being harmed by-" He had closed his eyes mid tangent, but reopened them to enforce his point. His eyes were met by sad and pleading green. Ulfric growled. The _death_ of him. "If he bites ANYONE..."

Sometimes it was worth giving in. Especially when his assassin bounced over to him, backing him into the small hallway between the throne room and the strategy room, pulling down her mask and kissing his cheek.

But it was even more worth it when they had Galmar to knowingly block Jarleif's view as the High King peppered kisses on Koudelka's lips.

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I hope you enjoyed! Please don't forget to leave a review! See you next time! She's always up to no good! x)


	3. Missing

A/N: Hey everyone! Merry Christmas! Sorry I haven't updated but it's been messy! So as a Christmas present I've managed to scramble together a new chapter. Sorry if it seems rushed but I did this on my iPhone after we opened presents! Also I'd like to thank my lone reviewer lita2extreme! *Gives Christmas cookie* Thank you for leaving me a small comment! I really appreciate that you took the time to review for me! I hope to see more of those soon! They really help me get chapters out.

Disclaimer: I do not own or profit off anything I'm writing. However Koudelka is mine and you may **not** use or take her for your leisure. Thank you!

Chapter rating: T. Some nudity and intimate themes, nothing heavy though.

* * *

Three months she had been gone. Three. She had counted everyday, never surrendering or breaking to her captors. Than again, that's why they all lay dead back at their underground den. Assumptions. Unintelligent and sloppy coordination. But she was one to talk.

Koudelka whimpered as she pushed the heavy metal doors of the palace open, taking tremendous comfort in the familiar smells and blurry sights. She spared a glance to her right to see who was on guard that night. The assassin smiled when she saw a familiar braid end peaking out from the side of a helmet. Ralof.

"Hey! Koudelka you're back! Ulfric's been worr-... Kou?"

The last thing she felt was her friend's arms catching her.

* * *

When news reached Ulfric that his assassin was back in the Palace, Galmar had to practically restrain the man.

"You cannot go now!" He whispered harshly, keeping a firm grip on Ulfric's forearm under the table. They were currently in a meeting with the Jarl of Winterhold discussing the college. Again.

"Jarl Korir, there is nothing we indicating that the college is behind the Great Collapse," Ulfric began, "and furthermore, I don't believe that you are supporting of your people's opinions that there is. And as much as I hate to admit, magic has woven its claws too far into the lands of Skyrim to destroy the only independent source of knowledge for those who wish to be mages. Plus," Ulfric grinned lightly, "they... Upset the Thalmor with their independence."

"Aye my Lord. Just as a Jarl it is my duty to address my people's major concerns such as the College to the High King." The man made to stand and thanked Ulfric, who nodded once in welcome. "A grand Jarl you are for doing so."

He then waited—none too patiently— until the man headed up the stairs to the guest chambers near Wuunferth's own room. As soon as Galmar heard the door in the main hall close, he released his long time friend.

Ulfric jumped from his chair and briskly walked up the stairs, slamming the door behind him. Of course Galmar was worried about the young woman upstairs, but he was sure she would be fine. She always was. She always had to be.

* * *

When Ulfric reached the top of the stairs he quickly hooked a right into the small hall leading up to the room that had become hers. He was stopped by a maid.

"My Lord, I do not think you should enter. Her wounds are being dressed." Utter anger flashed in Ulfric's eyes. "Wounds?!" he snarled, commanding her to move. She flinched and wisely moved as he barged into the room. At the sound of the door slamming against the wall, the male apothecary blocking his view of her looked up.

"Get out." The older man seethed.

The apothecary left without collecting his salves, dismissing himself and shutting the door behind him.

Koudelka smiled softly as she took in his appearance. His face was ashen, he had dark rings under his dulled green eyes, and looked absolutely exhausted. He had worried. She sat up painfully, the blanket covering her pooled at her waist. They had bathed her before starting to dress her wounds. Her abnormally long hair was still wet and easily covered her breasts, maintaining her decency.

Ulfric looked at her solemnly. Slices across her arms and sides had been mostly treated, but he was sure there were many more. Nothing was said as the light from the fireplace flickered over them. Finally Ulfric was pulled from his stupor.

"Who?! They will be slaughtered." The High King was over to the bed in three large strides, kneeling by her bedside. His evergreen eyes met her emerald and he questioned her. "Let me see you..."

She nodded without hesitation. "Okay."

Ulfric wasted no time in gently pushing her hair back over her shoulders and pulling the blanket to bunch up at the foot of the bed. "By The Nine..." he whispered.

Her torso was littered in lacerations and bruises. Her thighs had scratches and her knees were scraped up. There was an angry looking scar that hadn't healed properly by her hipbone. He ran his fingers around each spot with a surprising gentleness, causing the woman to shiver and blush. He stood to scoot her over on the bed so he could sit. Large hands quickly cupped her face and a soft kiss was pressed against her lips.

"It was my own fault Ulfric, please forgive my absence."

"This was no fault of yours, love. They must die, who did this?"

She laughed and leaned into his hand. "I got caught in one of the Falmer claw traps... The scar on my hip. They kept me and tortured me until they got sloppy. Then I broke out and killed them all."

He sighed and pressed their foreheads together. "Of course you did, my love." He swore nothing could stop this woman. Not even a god.

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I hope you enjoyed! Thank you for reading and please don't forget to leave me some love :D it can be my Christmas present!


	4. Horseplay

Sorry it took forever to update! Senior year is very busy tho. Thank you again to my dear reviewers. It means a lot to hear from you guys! Even if it's only a few words. I don't think this chapter is my best, but here you go! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own or profit off anything I'm writing. However Koudelka is **mine** and you may **not** use or take her for your leisure. Thank you!

(1)- The feather is the hair by a horse's hoof.

Chapter Rating: K.

* * *

It was for once a clear morning in Windhelm. The past few weeks had been a constant snow storm, which only stopped for a few hours at a time before picking up again. Now that they had a clear day, the Stormcloaks took advantage of the clear weather and chose to head to a nearby cave that housed a bandit gang. They had recently been trying to steal from travelers going to and from Windhelm. The group of Stormcloaks consisted of Koudelka, Ulfric, Galmar, Ralof, and two other soldiers named Lilia and Jorlle.

"— and well, I'm not quite sure where the cave is, but if you sense it let me know please, alright?" Koudelka stroked her horse's snout fondly for a second before smiling. "Thank you, Shadow." Once the assassin pulled away from the horse, she practically bounced over to Ulfric, who was currently tacking up his own horse. A beautiful blonde mare with a white tail, mane, and feather(1).

"Ohh Ulfric!" The corners of his lips twitched, but he managed to hold a straight face.

"Your lack of formality is not the most surprising thing you've done so far today for once." She tilted her head curiously at his statement, confused. "Do tell," he continued, "were you just speaking with your horse?" The smaller Nord simply blinked at him as if he just questioned how to wield a blade.

"Um... Of course?" She shook her head like he was a fool before continuing. "Shadow is a very intelligent and special horse. Truly a gift to mankind. I was lucky to obtain him." She explained.

Ulfric absentmindedly stroked his mare's neck. It was something the assassin loved about him. He was kind to animals without thinking about it. "So... Ah, you can speak to him?"

The Dragonborn nodded a few times. "Well, anyone can speak to him really. He opens a mental pathway to reply. Look—," Koudelka called Shadowmere over. He gracefully walked to stand next to his rider, "Shadow, talk to Ulfric a little bit." The horse seemed to turn its attention to the High King.

"_The fox you've grown fond of has been missing you, Ulfric. He comes to the stables to speak with me at night. However the stable hand chases him off during the day._" Ulfric smiled softly.

"Well, I'll be damned. Is that where he's been?"

"_Yes, he does appreciate the meals of spare meat you leave hidden in the hay bales for him._" Ulfric shook his head and took a few wide strides to the stable hand, leaving Koudelka to blink and look at the Deadric horse.

"What'd you say to him?"

"_Oh nothing, dear rider_." The dark horse swiftly yet softly nuzzled her cheek with his muzzle. She pouted. "Oh no you don't!" The assassin huffed as the horse turned and trotted away.

"That little trick won't work this time!" She yelled, drawing almost everyone's attention. Koudelka went to chase after the escapee horse, but Ulfric's voice stopped her.

"Stormblade! Perhaps—" she whirled on her heel to face him.

"No! You! You be quiet!" She turned back to the path Shadowmere was trotting down. "And you! Get back here!"

Everyone was left gaping at her and fearfully eyeing their High King and his General. Both had painfully icy eyes and grim faces. The General turned to address them. "Get back to work loading, fools! This is no play." Galmar roared. Once the three soldiers and stable hand scattered to busy themselves, he turned to Ulfric and clapped him on the shoulder. His long time friend pinched the bridge of his nose and both let their facades crack, smiling. The pair watched as Koudelka scolded her horse down the hill.

"I cannot even begin to comprehend how we won this war because of her."

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Please take time to review! Thanks everyone!


	5. Meetings

Hey everyone! Hope everyone is doing well out there! Well, life has been busy for me, but I've managed to write up about 3 chapters that need to be typed up! Thing is I can write them in class when I'm pretending to take notes xD. It's finding time to type them that's hard! But anyhow, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

**Lvl34potatoe:** Thank you for the review! I can't help but make them cute xD I really feel like with so much seriousness in the people the relationships should be focused on a bit more!*Gives cookie points*

**blackhawk68: **Awh, your review made me really happy! It actually made me get up early just to get this chapter out for you! Haha. Also, to answer your question she is Nord, but the reason she's kinda special is her life before she woke up in the carriage on the way to Helgen. The part she can't remember, you know? I may write a chapter of it where she somehow remembers, but I'm not sure. I'm happy you like my story though! *Gives cupcake points*

**Please take note of these listed numbers:**

**(1) This is in fact her Sabre cat. His name means Little Feral Lord in Dov. **

**(2) The link to her outfit can be found on my profile.**

Furthermore, to explain how I came to the conclusion about Galmar and Ulfric's 'playfulness' as a pm put it is because honestly if you look at them they make little bets and jokes. I feel like when you put the war aside and toss in a person like Koudelka, their fun sides come out more. As far as Galmar and Koudelka are concerned to answer another pm, he kinda feels for her as he would a rambuncous puppy. He loves her as that, but not like Ulfric loves her. xD And to on answer one more question, her hair is about down to her lower back, however she keeps it braided and in a bun at most times. So no, it doesn't get in her way or make it hard to keep her cowl up.

**Disclamer**: I do not own or profit off anything I'm writing. However Koudelka is **mine** and you may **not** use or take her for your leisure. Thank you!

**Chapter rating: **M- There nothing detailed like a lemon, but there is strong sexual themes.

* * *

Meetings, Meetings, _Meetings_.

Koudelka loathed the word itself, let alone the actual activity. But here she was, in a... _Meeting_. The assassin huffed softly and looked around. Due to the fact Ulfric had just recently been chosen by the Moot to be High King they needed to have a _meeting_ of the Jarls to set new rules and laws, though there weren't many to be changed.

... And because of that it was mostly drinking and a feast.

When Ulfric told her she had to attend— which consisted of him body blocking the door of his chambers so she couldn't leave until she agreed, and her throwing threats to his manhood via Malfeldrog(1).

Once Ulfric managed to _convince_ Koudelka that she liked that part of his anatomy too much to get rid of, she agreed to attend. She also begrudgingly lost her Brotherhood armor upon request and adorned a custom and formal leather outfit(2) that made men stare as a small revenge. The Dragonborn found all the glares the High King was sending out to said men positively amusing.

However, despite all the amusement the meeting offered she only cared about getting out of it. Regardless of the fact it was mostly festivities now, she'd much rather be curled up in a warm bed working on her translation of N'Gasta! Kvata! Kvakis!. Normally Ulfric didn't make her attend, coming up with multitudes of excuses as to why the Dragonborn and his personal assassin wasn't present.

When Ulfric placed his cup down and stood to address the group, Koudelka glowered at him.

Once the man had everyone's attention he sat back down, catching her eye while a smug look flashed through his own. The small Nord practically bristled. She was just as miserable and bored as he was, and he was happy about it. '_Bastard_.'

He tore his eyes away from hers and the smugness was hidden away. "My dear brothers and sisters of the land! We've come upon a great victory. However, without the aid of the Dragonborn, the Dovahkiin"— he said the translation in a whispering growl of the Voice, causing a rumble through not only the building, but the assassin to his right— "we could not have won this fight, or our freedom!" There was a cheer before Ulfric continued.

Koudelka tuned out as an idea for revenge popped in her head. The woman smirked and slouched in her chair a bit, placing her booted foot on the small triangle of the chair between Ulfric's parted legs beneath the table. No one else noticed aside the man who's thighs were brushed against her boot.

While the High King kept talking, he shot the young woman _the_ look. The look that said 'keep going and you're in trouble.'

He never really did intimidate her.

Her boot slid up further and softly rubbed at the sensitive organ between his legs. She smiled as his breath hitched in the middle of a word. He was quick to cover it with a cough.

The assassin's smirk widened when she started feeling a bulge rise under her boot, the normally composed man slowly succumbing to a hardly noticeable stutter and slightly faster breathing. Something only two out of all the people present noticed. Koudelka herself and Galmar.

Speaking of which, Koudelka cast her eyes over to the General. The man had his mouth covered with the hand that was previously propping his head up. The assassin was unsure if he was trying not to laugh or horrified. She assumed the former knowing the man. When Galmar met her eyes with mirth she smiled at him sweetly and pressed down on Ulfric, causing a grunt of surprise and pleasure to interrupt his recount of the battle for Solitude.

Koudelka quickly pulled her booted foot away as he glared at her and coughed to cover the grunt.

"And with that, feast in our victory! We have claimed our lands back!" When Ulfric's speech ended, he stood while the Jarls were picking food for their plates, roughly grabbing his assassin's upper arm to yank her out of her seat. He dragged her into the strategy room. She threw Galmar a pleading look before the door shut.

"They just can't sit through a meeting together..." Galmar mumbled to himself, biting into his chicken breast.

* * *

As soon as Ulfric had dragged the assassin into the small room he slammed the small Nord against the wall, pinning her wrists above her head with one hand. "What in the name of The Nine do you think you're doing?!" She smiled at his inquiry.

"Well, entertaining us of course. I know you get just as bored as me in those." She pulled at his unrelenting grip halfheartedly. His head leaned forward to rest on her shoulder, lightly nuzzling her exposed neck.

"You're going to get yourself trapped in my chambers for the rest of the night you know..." He threatened softly, breathing warm air on the pale column before him, sending shivers down her spine.

"Well maybe that was my plan this entire time. After all, I know you're just as excited it get out of there as I am." She whispered softly. A smile broke across the older man's lips.

"We cannot simply leave poor Galmar out there. It's like leaving a wolf in a pack of bunnies while telling it to babysit them. He hasn't a clue on how to handle them without violence."

Koudelka pouted lightly despite the fact Ulfric couldn't see her face. She turned her head to nuzzle his cheek. "I'll be sure to toss him a bonus bone for being such a good pup." Ulfric stilled and the sly woman smirked as he nipped her neck.

"Upstairs. _Now_."

She'd never scampered faster in her life.

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Thank you for reading! Please leave a review if you have a sec!


	6. The Dragon Effect

**A/N**: Hey everyone! I am SO sorry I haven't updated in so long! Lets just say I got a really discouraging PM and there was life drama and so on, so forth. However I've decided that screw that PM! I choose how I write my characters. Especially Koudelka. So for those of you who enjoy this story for what it is, please continue to read and enjoy! Love you guys.

**lita2extreme**: Thank you for the review! *Gives cookies* I'm happy you enjoy them how I write them.

**Lvl34potato**: Thank you for taking the time to review! Your name still makes me giggle when I see it. And yeah, it's hard to see Ulfric up and leaving, but he trusts Galmar enough to 'babysit'. Galmar the Ultimate Wingman of the 4th Era?! I think so!

This is only my second go at anything on FF, so don't mind too much. It has no beta, so **if an error is bothering anyone**, feel free to **private message** me or send me an **email**! :)

Please enjoy and all reviews are valued! It's really encouraging to have feedback!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own or profit off anything I'm writing. However Koudelka is **mine** and you **may not** use or take her for your leisure. Thank you!

**Important!:** This chaper is based off a 3 word or item prompt from my friend. Her items were Dragon Bones, Mead, and Campfire. This was the result. It was surprisingly fun and helped my writers block! So from now on I will be accepting 3 word or 3 item prompts in reviews! Ill pick one each chapter. If it seems popular enough I'll continue to do it. The winning prompt with be rewarded with their own cake! \o/ yay. Good luck! Of course if your item is two words like dragon bones was, it counts as one.

**Chapter Rating: K+**. There's just alcohol in this chapter. No sexual themes. Just fluff.

* * *

It was Wuunferth who peaked her curiosity on the effects of dragon bone consumption.

So obviously it was Wuunferth's fault, right?

Right.

At least that's the logic Koudelka was prepared to use if Galmar happened to rise from his slumber. The assassin bit back more giggles as Ulfric tried to speak again, covering his mouth and shushing him. The Nine forbid Galmar waking.

The Stormcloak Leader, Assassin, and General had been on the move to return to Windhelm from their victory in Solitude. Obviously the journey could not be made in a day, which put the group at a campsite.

Koudelka had been alone sorting through her things in her tent for mead that she had brought for a small victory celebration... Or a way to drink off defeat. However, while she has rummaging for mead, she came across some dragon bones from an earlier kill on her way to Solitude. Elder Dragons were awful to fight...

_"This subject is fascinating, Dragonborn! What is this? A rib bone? I've never had a chance to test it, but I hear ground dragon bone in potions will make them multitudes stronger, might I keep this speci—"_

She had dismissed the Court Mage's rambles to steal some Deathbell to use in her poisons. Now however... She had a bone, but no potion. The assassin glanced at the mead bottle in her other hand, then behind her at the tent flap. She giggled and took out her small apothecary supplies.

* * *

When Koudelka emerged, she had eight bottles between her fingers and one tucked under her arm.

"For a swift assassin you sure take a while to fetch a few bottles of mead." Ralof teased, earning a swift clonk over the head with his bottle before she handed it to him.

"Be nice before I slip something in there Ralof!" The woman threatened teasingly, earning a laugh from everyone around the fire as she passed out the rest of the mead to the soldiers. She took her place at Ulfric's side and handed him the last bottle that she had tucked under her arm.

He thanked her with a nod.

She hid a laugh with an uncharacteristic chug of her own drink.

Galmar leaned back and stared at her flatly from Ulfric's other side.

Koudelka could swear the Stonefist brother was psychic. The woman disregarded it and continued to drink with the rest of the group, occasionally slipping an uneventful glance at her lover. It was about an hour or so later she let out a disappointed sigh as everyone started to head to bed, and Ulfric was still... Ulfric. Nothing had happened. If anything the man seemed extra sober. The soon to be High King hadn't spoken a word since he finished his mead.

'_Perhaps the bones had an opposite effect?... That could come in handy later for turning health potions into poisons if I run out of Deathbell.'_

Soon enough, after Galmar bid them goodnight with a suspicious eye on Koudelka, it was only Ulfric and his assassin side by side at the slowly diminishing campfire. The male seemed to not have noticed, and looked deep in thought. The assassin leaned against him lightly, causing him to instinctually tuck her under his arm. She welcomed the half-embrace, determined to cheer up the sober leader. It was her fault he was like this after all... However Ulfric beat her to saying something.

"You remind me of a lemon tart."

...What?

"Ulfric... Have you been sitting here the past hour pondering what _dessert_ I am?..."

The rebellion leader shook his head and Koudelka sighed in relief.

Then Ulfric chuckled.

His drunk chuckle.

"I've also decided Galmar is a corn muffin." He stated factually.

The woman dead panned. Not only was Ulfric slightly drunk, he was completely wasted. Wasted to the point of serious sober ponders on _dessert people._

"Wait.. Where'd everyone go?" Koudelka snickered. The dragon bone multiplied the _alcohol_ effects! By at least tenfold. The man had only had one bottle too.

"Oh Ulfric... They all went to sleep. I think it might be a wise idea for you to do the same." She removed his arm from it's place around her shoulders and tried tugging the man to his feet.

Turns out he was heavier than he looked.

"Ulfric! Come on." She urged. The man didn't budge, but looked up at her.

"I don't believe I'm ready to sleep yet. I still haven't chosen what Revyn is." He murmured.

The woman smiled softly and tugged his hand again. "You can think about that in bed silly." This time the man followed the pull and stood, stumbling lightly. He laughed and she giggled in reply.

The assassin gently guided the man to their tent which was shared with Galmar and sat the man quietly on the bed. The three officers gave up having three large tents to make sure all the soldiers had shelter. Which meant they needed to be cautious of the sleeping bear occupying the left side of the large tent.

"Shh... Shh, we're going to wake up Galmar..." Koudelka whispered as she stripped off the furs around his shoulders. He let out another laugh and she snorted back a laugh of her own. Nothing was funny but...

She pushed him back to lay on the bed, turning to leave him be to sleep off the alcohol. However that wasn't in Ulfric's plan book, considering he wrapped an arm around the woman's waist and tugged her down on top of him. She giggled and muffled the noise by burying her face in his neck.

"Mmm... Stay with me." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Of course, staying meant a night filled with pointless laughs and kisses, quiet hushes and muffled words but...

How could she refuse such a request?

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this one, I may do a little more serious chapter next time, but feel free to review and leave those 3 word prompts. One will be chosen at random! Also! Cookie points to whoever can guess why I picked someone like Revyn instead of someone like Galmars brother or a Cruel Sea!


	7. Heirlooms that Break

**A/N:** Helloooo everyone! ^-^ I hope everyone is well and enjoying this so far! Lol. So, I'm graduating in less than a month and I kinda don't know how to feel... Like it's so weird to think no more High School, you know? Haha. Anyhow, enjoy this chappy!

**timeywimeyspaceywacey: **Thank you for the review, I'm glad you agree with my choice for him xD I really couldn't see him as anything too sweet so I made him a corn muffin. A lil rough but still really num num. Haha. *Gives cookies*

**Lvl34potato: **I freaking love your reviews! They make me giggle all the time. I hope I didn't damage your butt when you landed on the floor! D: Sorry I didn't take your suggestion this time, but I felt like doing a serious cereal chapter this go around! Feel free to leave the words again :) *Gives brownies*

**Katschaba: **I'm glad you like my idea on the prompts! Haha. I didn't really know what kind of drunk Ulfric would be, but I assumed either quiet and contemplative on stupid things or roudy and merry. It all depends on environment. *Gives cookies*

**mrsmiawallace88: **Whoa! You blew up my mailbox with those reviews all in a row! I'm so happy you love it enough to leave one on most chapters! Thank you sooo much! *Gives cupcake*

This is only my second go at anything on FF, so don't mind too much. It has no beta, so **if an error is bothering anyone**, feel free to **private message** me or send me an **email**! :)

Please enjoy and all reviews are valued! It's really encouraging to have feedback!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own or profit off anything I'm writing. However Koudelka is **mine** and you **may not** use or take her for your leisure. Thank you!

**Important!:** This chaper is based off a 3 word or item prompt from a PM. Their items were Necklace, Crown, and Fire. I will be accepting 3 word or 3 item prompts in reviews! Ill pick one each winning prompt with be rewarded with their own cake! \o/ yay. Good luck! Of course if your item is two words like Dragon Bones for example is, it counts as one.

**Important Chapter Notes: **

**(1 Slight Spoiler, go read then come back!):** Ulfric put out the fire constantly burning in his bedroom's fireplace as soon as Jorleif tells him about it. He refuses to relight it until her return.

**(2): **These items were what she hunted down for all the time she was gone. They are Ulfric's father's own, that have been lost for centuries.

**Chapter Rating: K+:** It's kinda sad, but nothing high rated happens.

* * *

Koudelka knew dread. She knew the feeling of a ball of sickening lead dropping into her stomach. But dread this strong was something foreign to her. It felt like lead simply pierced through her heart, then slowly ripped it's way down to her stomach to settle.

This was despair.

She smothered the feeling with pure anger and cast the forsaken letter into the fire in front of her, reading it helplessly as it turned to ash.

_"To all Citizens!_

_It is a wonderful day to be in Skyrim! For our High King Ulfric Stormcloak is to be wed! To none other than the beautiful, strong, and true Lady Lailia Law-Giver! The wedding will be held in Windhelm on the 10th of Frostfall. _

_All who will be in attendance are asked to please send word ahead. All are welcome to join us on such a gifted day, a day to watch true love bloom! _

_ Sincerely,_

_ Steward Jorleif."_

She stopped being able to read the letter about half way through, reciting the last half from memory. The letter had been turned to nothing but ashes. However the words were burned as an image into her mind. Anger and betrayal pulsed through her body with every heartbeat, she exploded with pure rage.

"YOL TOOR SHUL!"

Fire erupted from the waves of her voice and rode into the forest before her, burning, breaking, and blazing anything in it's path. Shadowmere reared up from the sudden blazing light and heat, letting out a startled grunt but he soon settled, quietly walking over to his master.

"_Rider, shall we depart?" _ He questioned, his ears flicked nervously.

Her voice shook as she replied, her form hunched slightly. The horse could easily smell the salt, but said nothing.

"I- I have to know why. I've been gone for six months... But for him. He knew. I had to find this... For him." The Deadric horse pressed his snout to her damp face.

"_We must go... The forest burns around us. We will make it back in a month's time. Gather your things, Master." _

The assassin did just that before mounting her horse.

* * *

They had made it back to Eastmarch in seventeen days time, leaving Shadowmere haughty and proud, yet completely exhausted. The woman chose to leave her mount and her belongings in her Orc allied fort of Narzulbur. She spoke quickly and softly to Mauhulakh, the Chief of the fort.

"Now, I will care for your horse and protect your items, but please do return quickly. My tribesmen already believe me to be soft enough." He chided softly, taking his brotherly stance to her. The woman was well accepted in the forts. She did not see their tusks, nor their horns, nor their odd colored skin. She saw people, allies, and true warriors. She took the time to know them as individuals.

"I know, Mauhulakh. I much appreciate it. Trust me. I'm sure no one will give you fuss though. They'd do the same for me too," she sighed shakily, "plus... I wanna be in and out of there as fast as possible..."

* * *

She waited until midnight.

Koudelka let her perfected assassin instincts guide her through the dark onto the decks attached to the eastern side of the icy city. She was being discrete, she wished to see and be seen by no one but Ulfric himself.

It took her about ten minutes to glide through the shadows into the courtyard of the Palace. The side door before her lead into the strategy room. At this time Galmar would be finishing up his warm honey mead...

The assassin swiftly swiped a phial of fish oil she used on her bow from her hip pouch, silencing the door from groaning as it should. She slipped inside.

Koudelka had been right about Galmar still being in the candlelit room as she slipped in with the shadows, rendering the Stonefist oblivious to her entrance. She tilted her head curiously at the bottle in his hand. The general didn't ever drink hard Nord mead before sleeping. The woman's eyes softened at her close friend, tempted to make herself known. Her mission instinct smashed and tore that desire away like a malevolent wave to a small fishing boat.

The Nord's eyes hardened and she slipped up the stairs to the hall before Ulfric's room. She mourned lightly. This would be the last time she roamed this hall, the last time she walked into his bedroom... A room she once considered 'their own'.

Her heart jumped as she opened the door, a wave of Ulfric's scent washing over her. She felt her anger simmer down. The room was cold and the fire was out. There were no embers in the fireplace, just half charred logs. No candles were lit and she worried for a moment he was absent with his _fiancé. _

No, his scent was too fresh, and not at all stale. Her werewolf enhanced senses told her the last he was in the room was maybe five hours ago. Koudelka eyed the shelves in the back of the room. She stepped over the room's threshold and walked gracefully over to the ornate wood, jumping to settle on the top one, creating a spitting image of her once leader and mentor, Astrid. She crossed her arms and visually prowled the room from her perch.

She waited for hours, glaring harshly at the door through the shadows.

* * *

The hidden assassin assumed it was around three thirty in the morning when the man that hurt her trudged in, putting it lightly. She fought to hold her glare against the man who still held her heart. She tilted his head at his abnormal behavior.

Ulfric shut the door softly behind him, staying in his position facing the door. Some nights were worse than others. It had gotten easier after the first couple of months, but nights like these it was difficult to look at the room, no matter how much he drank.

The High King forced himself to turn and face the room, his green eyes forlornly drawn to his frozen time keeper. The logs were the same as he left them everyday since the moment he had gotten the news from Jorleif. **(1)**

The Nord took a strong breath before starting a slow walk towards his bed, carelessly stripping layers of his outfit and letting them drop where they may, including his precious furs. He tugged a white common shirt on, leaving him in the shirt and brown trousers. He never noticed the venomous green eyes staring at him from under a notorious hood.

She growled softly at his dulled senses. As he sat on the bed to lay, she could take no more.

She threw the amulet and jeweled crown**(2)** she hunted down on his bed from her perch.

"You're dull now, but so is the life of a to be _husband_." Koudelka hissed, voice cold and harsh.

The jolt that went through the man and the sad yet hopeful spark in his previously dull eyes made her growl. He stood quickly and looked over to the back of his chambers.

"No..."

"Oh! Disappointed to see me, _love_?" She spat the term of endearment with hatred, jumping down from the shelves. The assassin stalked to Ulfric and the man was swifter than a scholar to put two and two together. His instincts kicked back into gear and the large man easily caught the punch aimed at him. The hit was oddly weak.

As was the second with her other arm he caught.

The woman struggled to get herself out of his grip, but he was too strong, just like always.

"Stop." He commanded.

She _almost _listened.

"Koudelka, please love, _stop._" Ulfric was pleading.

"How _dare _you call me that?!"

She kicked at him uselessly, all her instincts and training as an assassin abandoned her as hurt and realization flowed through her. Ulfric growled lightly and could finally take no more.

"I thought you were dead! We _all_ thought you were dead!"

Koudelka froze and her eyebrows furrowed, sadness and hurt tore through her, the fury pulsing through her diminished. "You... _What?_" She questioned, not believing what she had heard. Was he lying?

The large Nord never released her hands, but reduced his grip from a vice, to a gentle hold while threading their fingers together. To make sure she was real. She was _there. _He turned them and pushed her to sit on the bed before kneeling before her on the floor. She steeled her eyes and waited for a sign of a lie.

"About one month after you left, word reached the palace that an Elder Dragon had slaughtered the Dragonborn when she left a tomb she was raiding while wounded..." The man's eyes looked broken and glassy in the dark lighting. The assassins eyes softened.

"Ulfric?..."

"We searched for two months Koudelka. I sent every soldier I could. I was so devastated..."

The woman shook her head in disbelief. He had to be lying. She would've heard about hundreds of soldiers looking for her, no matter how far out of the land she was."You're a liar." She accused.

When the pure hurt flashed through him, she regretted saying those words. Meanwhile Ulfric was frantically trying to think of ways to convince her. He was going to lose her forever. She would be gone out of his life. He'd never see her, touch her, joke with her, love her... Ever.

"Please... I'll do anything to prove it to you... I _need_ you."

The words broke her resolve. She knew she was a fool influenced by love, but by The Nine, the man was on his knees about to break and weep. She shook her head, realizing the truth.

"Ulfric, it's too late."

She stood and pulled away from the man who held her heart. She turned before she could see the man break and crumble.

"You're to be married. There is no longer room for me here." Koudelka felt a foreign wetness on her cheeks and wondered if Ulfric was weeping too. The Nord jumped to his feet when the assassin turned to leave. He moved to block the door, boldly cupping her face in his large hands.

"I can't let you go, slow down, please don't leave. Please. I've prayed to The Nine for hours everyday to return you to me. I can call off the wedding. I'll marry you. I do not feel even an ounce of love for that woman. I do not care about what the people will think." He pleaded, not allowing her to look away from him. When her tears flowed more, he tugged her cowl's mask down, kissing her tears away with gentle lips.

The woman finally broke and wrapped her arms around the older man's neck, meshing their lips together with a soft intensity.

* * *

Hours into the early morning found the two lovers curled in bed, watching the fire blazing within it's confines, practically dancing at being relit. Ulfric pressed a kiss to the back of Koudelka's neck.

"Why Law-Giver, Ulfric?" She questioned softly. The union made no sense. The woman didn't believe in Ulfric. The woman believed he had selfish motives.

"She was first to step up to present a politically adequate marriage." He answered. The woman sighed and the High King's brows furrowed.

"We'll find a way out of this. We always do." The woman nodded in agreement and intertwined her fingers with his from the arm around her waist.

_'But still... Who reported me to be dead? And with such a detailed story?'_

* * *

Late into the night, days later a letter arrived at Mistveil Keep. Found simply resting upon the Jarl's pillow. No one had saw who delivered it, nor had they seen them infiltrate the Keep.

Lailia had quickly shooed her steward out the door when she first noticed the letter, assuming it to be of secrecy from Ulfric about their wedding.

The woman took her time to change from her normal attire into a sleeping gown before languidly walking to her large bed to pluck the letter from her pillow.

It was nothing from Ulfric.

The pure black hand print was infamous to all as the Dark Brotherhood. Assassins.

But there was no group. There was no 'brotherhood'.

There was no 'We'.

This was personal.

Above the inky dark print was simply two words that wrought fear into every bone in the woman's body.

"_I know_."

* * *

Well! That was different than my normal chapters! I hope you guys liked it anyhow! Please drop a review! And thank you to all you silent readers out there and followers!


	8. Heirlooms that Break pt2

**A/N:** Ahaha… Hi everyone. *Hides* I know it's been way too long and I'm seriously sorry for that. To be perfectly honest I wasn't even planning on continuing Heirlooms into another chapter, but you lovely readers who left me reviews seemed to enjoy it a lot, so I did. I love you guys so much for not only reading and following, but for taking even more time to review for me! Thank you so so much! Things have been crazy in real life, and it's all mostly personal stuff I'm not going to rant to you guys about, just know my tardiness is excusable(or not!)

**Lvl34potato:** I always love your reviews still! It makes me so happy to see someone who's consistantly into the story and always nice enough to review! (Not that other's names aren't popping up a lot, just this little french fry has been with me a while on this story!)

**Mrsmiawallace88:** Well, let's hope you get your wish! I personally hate her too, and agree she needs to be assassinated, but that's not up to me. *Grumbles* up to Koudelka.

**Timeywimeyspaceywacey:**I'm glad you like the dark chapters! Teehee

**BrunetteAuthorette99:** I just wanna start by saying thank you for following and for stepping up to leave a review as well! It really makes me feel good about this story! And you're correct on your assumtion(smashing imaginary goetee) what a bish, eh?!

**Katschaba: **You're right somewhat! But you'll have to read the story to really find out! Teehee. Enjoy!

**All reveiwers, readers, followers, favorities(ers?): **Thank you all so much for your pacience! I hope to see reviews and feedback from you guys and gals! I love hearing from my readers.

Also, this one won't be a word challege because it's a continuation of a previous chapter, but that game WILL be back on for next chapter!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own or profit off anything I'm writing. However Koudelka is **mine** and you **may not** use or take her for your leisure. Thank you!

**Important notes for the chapter: **

(1) I don't really think that if you crouch in front of someone you're invisible in a logical sense, so I've changed it a bit so that if you've trained yourself fully in stealth(maxed your tree) Shadow Warrior is what causes you to be invisible when you're 'crouched.' So she is invisible, and when she stealths I mean she activates her SW. Sorry if you don't like that! *Sadface*

(2) Ulfric mumbles the Dova verse of The Dragonborn comes. You can find the translation almost anywhere online.

(3)"Hio enqoth geinmaar." This means 'You entomb me.' There was no word for Entomb, only tomb, so I added a Latin prefix. Anyhow, this was heavily inspired by the Arabic phase 'Ya'aburnee' which means 'You bury me.' A lover or spouse says it to the other, they mean they hope they die before their loved one, because the speaker could not endure the pain of losing the one their heart belongs to.

(4)"Hio enqoth geinmaar, Strundu'ul…" This means 'You entomb me, Stormcrown.' I had him call her that in a context where he's calling her his true queen.

**Chapter Rating: M for Mature. **There is sex in this chapter, if you're not alright with it, you can skip it easily. It's not too dire to the story time. However the pillowtalk after is!

Uhm, anyhow, I know this intro was long, but now you can get on with the story! Please enjoy and leave me a review! Oh! Also, there is a link in my profile to Koudelka, it's pretty crappy though. I had to take it with my cell phone, somehow screenshots on my computer get corrupted and distorted O-o So it's better than those! Her hair is down to her mid-back now. It's not a nuisance though, buns and braids and whatnot. I'll probably edit her more later, but for now here's an image! Enjoy!

* * *

When Ulfric awoke a few hours after dozing off with Koudelka in his arms, he was alone. He quickly stood up in a light panic, causing the covers to be thrown off his body. The High King stood and scanned the room for the woman he had been reunited with to no avail.

Ulfric ran a hand through his hair while turning back to face the bed. He sighed softly in relief to see a little scroll resting innocently on a pillow. His respite was short lived when he realized she wasn't there, coupled by her words the previous night.

"_It's too late, Ulfric. You're to be wed."_

What if it said goodbye?

The man snatched the letter up, swiftly unrolling the scrolled parchment before beginning to read the uniquely graceful, yet messy scrawl.

_"Ulfric, stop panicking. I bet you even missed this, didn't you? Silly man. I'll be back in three days' time. I have a rather personal errand to run. Let Galmar be aware of my status, silently please. I've left a sign in the letter, but it's probably on the bed now since you opened this so quickly... Ugh. Predictable, hopeless fool."_

_-Kou_

The man rolled his eyes at her seemingly infinite knowledge of him, glancing down. A simple pressed petal of Deathbell with a single black finger print rested on the rumpled sheets. Ulfric felt a smile cross his face and rushed to dress before plucking the petal up, going out the door to locate Galmar as calmly as possible.

* * *

When Ulfric ended up finding the Stone-Fist, he was arriving in the Palace of the Kings to begin his routine of 'abusing' the new recruits. '_The routines are hard, but still. They'll be thanking Talos for him when they're confronted by enemies.' _ The thought made the man chuckle lightly. The guards gossiped as if their leaders couldn't hear them. The High King met the man in the middle of the room.

"Galmar." At the simple tone the older of the two men knew something had happened. The depressed and emotionless tone that had been echoing his friend's every word was absent. Ulfric held out his clenched hand with a passive face. Galmar accepted the gesture and allowed his longtime friend to place whatever it was in his own palm. His eyes widened significantly.

"With your own eyes? You're sure?"

Ulfric nodded once. "Last night. She will be back in three days' time." The Stone-Fist let out a hearty and merry laugh, mumbling so only the party of two would hear.

"Resilient bitch." Ulfric could only laugh and agree, missing the woman already.

* * *

"_You are sure, Rider? We are supposed to return in a day."_

"Well, news of the sudden threat on Ulfric's betrothed will spread like wildfire. We'll be meeting him on the road. Then, we will accompany him to _protect_ her." The horse snorted and swished his tail.

"_You planned this with him?"_

"Nope."

Shadowmere hung his head. _"Of course not."_

The assassin giggled and reached down to stroke her horse's neck. "Oh hush. You know you're always proud of my plans. Not to mention more than willing to cooperate." The Deadric horse didn't reply, snorting instead.

"_Hm, let's just hope he's well on his way. I'm rather bored standing here."_

It only took two hours for Koudelka to be proven correct. A group of about ten horses were approaching. Shadowmere's ears swiveled towards the noise and Koudelka shifted in her saddle. "Let's go give them a small scare, shall we?" The horse under her pawed the dirt and broke into a gallop, always excited to drop fear into people and animals. He was Deadric, after all.

Shadowmere sped up, aligning his stride to gambade over a fallen tree, landing in the middle of the road. The dark horse pulled his upper body into a rear and let out a near bestial shrill.

Koudelka smiled under her cowl as the Stormcloak's horses spooked and panicked, shuffling and whinnying uneasily, front hooves lifting off the ground in a half-rear. Swords were drawn quickly and she let out a soft laugh.

"My, my Ulfric. You've been training them to attack your favorite Dragonborn? Tsk tsk." She taunted. At her declaration, whispered words traveled through the mounted soldiers. _Dragonborn, dead, killed, alive, bandits, Stormblade, _and _miracle _were among them. The man addressed chuckled softly.

"Well, she's been lacking for quite a while. We will need to make sure she's still a warrior." As he finished his jest, Galmar guided his horse next to the High King. A genuine smile broke across his scarred face.

"Get in line, Stormblade. You're holding us up. Don't you know about the news from the Brotherhood? _Your _DarkBrotherhood in fact, my dear." He teased.

"Know? It's _my_ Brotherhood, like you said. Of course I know. I did send my _very_ _best,_" she took her place to Ulfric's left and stroked her jubilant horse's neck," you know, to give us a challenge." Koudelka urged Shadowmere forward, causing the others to follow suit.

They ran into surprisingly few stops on the way to Riften. Every time they'd passed a would-be bandit camp or animal den, all that would be there were dead bodies or blood. Ulfric would look to Koudelka, who would reply with a shrug and a nonchalant: "Someone beat us to them."

* * *

Ulfric lead the way through the messy town of Riften. People bowed, some scowled, and others nodded and held a hand over their heart. Koudelka glared harshly at the doors to Mistveil Keep as they approached, and Ulfric threw a reassuring half smirk to her before pushing the large doors open.

The large group of Stormcloaks was greeted by the large main hall lavished with food and drink. Laila was quick to smile and stand, walking to Ulfric from her throne in the back of the room.

"Oh, thank The Nine you're here, dear." She buried her fingers into Ulfric's furs that were adorning his shoulders, forcing him into a sort of semi-hug. "I was so scared with everything that has been happening." The Jarl whined softly, drawing a huff from Galmar, who had been standing next to the High King. Ulfric resisted the urge to push the woman away, idly wondering where Koudelka had gone. The man pat her on the back lightly before pulling away.

"We should get to work on securing the Keep. Where was the infiltration made?"

"My bedroom, I haven't a clue what to do, Ulfric!" Koudelka's lips twisted into a frown when the woman clung to him again, and she revealed herself to the room.

"Common sense would say you assign guards to that area." She hissed in a cold voice, slowly stepping out of her Shadow Warrior(1) induced fog. The High King looked at her with warm eyes and gasps went up across the room. Ulfric's travelling group smiled proudly. Lalia wisely stepped back.

"Dragonborn…" Laila practically damned the word with the ice in her voice and Ulfric was quick to notice, turning his head back to the Jarl with an accusing stare. Apparently he wasn't alone. Galmar never did hesitate to say what was on his mind.

"Yes, she _is_ alive. _No news_ could be more joyous than Stormblade returning to us. Wouldn't you agree?" Ulfric noted the threatening tone in Galmar's voice, staring at Laila. The woman noticed as well, choosing to agree quickly. Her voice took on a new tone.

"O-of course, forgive me! I was simply in shock! How could I not be rejoiced at the news, let alone the site! After all you've done, just for this city alone," Koudelka grimaced at her falseness, "come here, and let me see you." The older woman took a step towards the assassin. Koudelka quickly rejected the motion by wordlessly stepping back into the wispy green and black fog of Shadow Warrior, soon disappearing along with the fog.

Laila's face took on a mask of anger for a moment before she composed herself. She led herself back to her throne and sat, motioning with a hand to the garnished tables.

"Please, eat. Your soldiers must be tired after such a long journey." She stated softy, turning to whisper to her stewardess.

The men behind Ulfric waited for his nod of approval before sitting at the tables to dine. Galmar remained by his side. The High King looked aggravated and glanced to his friend. "Go and eat, I need to speak with her." The older of the two opened his mouth to argue, but decided against it. He did as Ulfric requested and joined the others.

Ulfric turned and took long strides to the door of the Keep, keeping the door open for an unnoticeable second too long.

Koudelka huffed and slipped out quickly within the second.

* * *

The High King was swift in finding the desolate and private training area. As he expected, he heard the sound of his lover emerging from her stealth soon after. He turned to face the blonde.

"What was that all about?" He questioned calmly, only confusion evident in his voice. "I understand you don't like her because of, ah… arrangements, but that was plain hostile. Even for you." Ulfric was surprised when she answered him monotonously.

"I apologize, my King. As an assassin I do not appreciate being touched by people. It is simply instinct, nothing more." She bowed before stepping back and fading into nothing, leaving Ulfric in an uneasy and surprised shock. Formality? "My King...?" He mumbled softly to himself, concerned as to why the woman was so detached. Was it over? She was just fulfilling her duty as one of his Generals now?

Ulfric Stormcloak was worried.

* * *

The High King shut the door behind him and leaned against it with a sigh. He had just spent the past half hour trying to convince Laila that it was_ in fact_ immoral to share a bed with someone if they aren't wed. She had followed the argument with a persistent plead of 'It's for my own safety.' To which he responded with a reassuring tone, stating facts about the guards on the balcony and in the hall outside. She eventually ran out of arguments and let him retire to his room, much to his relief.

Ulfric took in the welcomed sight of his room. The room itself was more than graciously sized; however it held no comparison to his own room. The bed was large and freshly made, but his eyes were quickly drawn to the open window that was casting an almost constant slow but strong breeze throughout the room. The man slowly walked over to the source of the refreshing feeling. It had a wondrous view of the lake around the fishing hold, allowing him to see the water lap softly against the wall below the window.

He ran a hand over his face before leaving it to rest in his hair, losing himself to thought. He was content with simply enjoying the clean breeze billowing off the water. He mumbled absentmindedly.(2)

"_Dovahkiin, Dovahkiin_

_Naal ek zin los vahriin_

_Wah dein vokul mahfaeraak ahst vaal_

_Ahrk fin norok paal graan_

_Fod nus thon zindro zaan_

_Dovahkiin, fah hin kohaan mu draal…"_

He smiled softly as a particularly strong breeze blew past him into his room, caressing invisible fingers through his mane.

"Beware, beware, the Dragonborn comes, Laila."

* * *

Koudelka released the breath she had been holding as her arrow easily pierced through armor into the heart of the Imperial General. "Finally," she whispered softly, "it's over." The assassin had been wiping out the camp for a while now. She had infiltrated the camp soon after her earlier conversation with Ulfric. Her boredom following said conversation mainly lead her to mischief, this time causing her to snoop around Mistveil where she stumbled upon suspicious set of Imperial armor. After mentally going through why it would be there, she assumed it was from when Maven had been Jarl. Koudelka then 'borrowed' it. Her fun had been ruined when she snooped through the General's chest, discovering plans of an attack on Ulfric while he was in the city.

The letter itself was odd, making references of a Thorn and a Rat, and it was repeatedly assured that infiltration would be no trouble.

Something she, of course, wouldn't ever allow.

The woman had left the camp to prepare for her work, absentmindedly taking a head-count on the soldiers within the camp. Seventeen, a relatively small number, including injured. When she returned to Riften, it was sunset. Koudelka hurried along to Honeyside to change to her assassin armor and retrieve her Legendary Deadric bow. Matching daggers were strapped to her hips before she headed out of the back of her residence to her deck. A forlorn glance was gifted upon the hold in the city behind her before she descended the stairs to mount Shadowmere.

* * *

The woman waited until around one in the morning before she fired her first shot. Koudelka was hidden in the hills surrounding the camp. The woman followed the same tactic for the full twenty-three minutes it took her to clear the camp. Kill one or two, back off, relocate, kill more, back off, and relocate. She showed mercy to none, an arrow to the heart or eye regardless of injury or health. She left the General for last.

Call it playing with her food.

Koudelka could practically see the fear in the man looking for her aimlessly, sword drawn. When the arrow pierced him, she smiled and released her breath she had been holding during her Eagle Eye. She looked up at the sky and frowned.

She needed to get back.

* * *

Ulfric awoke sometime in the middle of the night, sensing a strong presence in his room.

"Your change in breathing is obvious when you wake up, you know…" The mellow whisper of her voice made the man smile and sit up, the green blanket pooling at his waist. Koudelka sat in the window, one leg propped up in front of her in the sill, the other hanging inside the room. Emerald eyes glanced over at him and a smirk that the man could see for once, thanks to the lack of cowl, caused them to sparkle. Her Brotherhood cowl laid discarded on the floor by the window.

Ulfric motioned for her to come to him. He wasn't a dopey romantic those foolish bards sang about, but it had been so long since he had seen her with the assassin mask off and her hair down. The long ends in the front caressed her face perfectly; albeit he was near positive she did it carelessly with a dagger, however he adored that she kept the back so long, letting it cascade down her back when it wasn't in a bun. He loved her beauty, but not in the same respects as any other woman, no matter their beauty. Something so small and fragile looking was a perfected and deadly warrior. That was truly something gorgeous.

Koudelka pouted playfully at leaving her spot by the window. She crossed the distance between them, slipping her hand into his. The man pulled her into his lap on the bed, wrapping his arms around her as she happily pressed against him. Moments like these,

"I was scared…" she whispered,

There were no walls between them.

"I know," he threaded his fingers through her hair, "I'm so sorry that I hurt you." Ulfric had realized he never truly got to apologize to his lover. He regretted agreeing to the matrimony more than anything else he had done previously in his life. However, the High King already knew she had forgiven him, he knew it just as well as she did. For that, he was grateful.

He refocused on the woman before him when she pulled her hand from his own, slowly bringing it up to cup his left cheek. Koudelka tenderly traced the long scar marring his face. Ulfric leaned into her touch lightly, locking his darker green eyes to her lighter hues.

"This is ours…" The soft whisper caused the man's eyes to soften further, slowly closing the gap between their lips until they were but a hairsbreadth away from touching. She shivered as his warm breath trickled across her own lips.

Their lips pressed together tightly and tongues rushed to begin a passionate dance. A strong hand tangled into Koudelka's hair, and she let out a soft whimper. The familiar feeling of soft strands through his fingers was welcome. The woman atop him took his lower lip between her teeth, biting gently before pulling away, gazing down at Ulfric heatedly.

The man slowly ran a calloused hand under her leather armor, caressing the small of her back languidly. His fingers curled around the bottom hem of the armor, pulling it up her body and over her head to reveal her to him.

Koudelka blushed lightly and averted her gaze, shivering lightly from the breeze still blowing in through the window.

"Close your eyes…" It was a soft request, whispered gently as if the sound was delivered to her on the air of the wind. It asked for a large amount of trust on her part. Loss of one of her major senses to leave her partially at his mercy. An amount of trust she had for him in abundance. Koudelka complied and allowed herself to relax and shut her emerald eyes.

He smiled at her display of trust before cupping her cheek with his hand. The High King languidly traced her cheeks with his thumbs, trailing his hand down to her lightly reddened lips, sweetly taking her chin between his fingers to pull her towards him for a soft and fast kiss. He pulled away from her quickly, causing her brows to furrow in slight confusion. He laughed softly at her expression, but continued his exploration.

Ulfric was quick to begin planting soft kisses and nips to her neck while sliding his hands down further to tease her breasts. He caressed the soft mounds caringly, rubbing his roughed thumb around her nipples, but never giving her the satisfaction of actually teasing them. She arched her back to press herself into his hands, whimpering exasperatedly.

"Tsk tsk… Patience." He scolded playfully, removing his hands from her chest, letting them continue their journey downwards. He ran his hands up and down her sides, smirking at the shiver that ran through her. Ulfric trailed his hands over her stomach, tracing small and large scars that marred her otherwise flawless skin. He smiled at the memories of helping her care for certain ones; sure she was doing the same by the small smile on her face.

She squirmed lightly in his lap, reminding him of his previously forgotten arousal. He grunted softly and grasped her hip lightly, guiding her to slip off his lap and onto the bed. He was quickly to climb over her, meeting her now open eyes. She smiled and he met her soft lips in a passionate kiss. She tangled her fingers into his mane and pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. He delivered gentle nips to her lips while trailing his fingers down to untwine the laces to her Brotherhood pants, noting she kicked her boots off when he heard two thuds on the floor. She broke the kiss for air, quickly tugging the hem of his shirt up to slip it over his head. He finished unlacing her pants and left them to sit up to help her get the nuisance off his upper body. Her hands were swift to run over his chest, abdomen, arms, and sides, anything that was newly revealed to her.

Ulfric rushed to finish his abandoned work, tugging her pants off and throwing them to the dark carelessly. Calloused hands ran up the outside of her legs while he descended upon her chest to teasingly bite and suck on her hardened nipples. Koudelka let out a loud gasp, subconsciously spreading her legs for him. She whimpered softly at the attention he was giving her, letting out a soft moan when his hand came up to play with her neglected breast. The assassin slipped a hand between their bodies to stroke his neglected arousal through his pants before playing with the laces of the offending garment teasingly, causing him to groan and bite down on her as a non-verbal scolding.

Koudelka unlaced his pants with skilled fingers, pushing them down off sharp hips to encourage him to kick them off. He didn't disappoint her. He pulled away from her chest when the cool air caressed his member, planting soft kisses up to her neck. The woman under Ulfric ran her hands over his chest to push his shoulders back, and he followed her lead to lay on his back for her. Koudelka laughed softly and hastily straddled his hips.

His hands were on her hips within seconds and Koudelka teasingly rubbed herself against his throbbing member, never letting him slip within her tight heat. Ulfric groaned at her teasing, tightening the grip on her hips yet letting her have her fun. A small smile graced her face as she leaned down to exchange a chaste kiss with Ulfric while unhurriedly allowing his hardened cock to slip between her legs, burying deep within her tight velvet heat.

Ulfric's hands wondered up to her lower back, pressing his fingers into her flesh gently. He pushed his hips up against hers in a slow, hard thrust causing her to gasp and moan sweetly, arching her back against his hands. The assassin knew she wouldn't be able to keep the man under her for long, Ulfric wanted to be in control. She could feel the eagerness and power under her.

Talos knows Ulfric loved control.

He caved faster than she thought he would, only laying still for her to roll her hips a few times before he flipped her over onto her back with a growl. He grabbed her hips and slammed back into her, causing the woman to cry out quietly as he began a steady rhythm. She wrapped her legs around his hips to drive him deeper into her.

Ulfric leaned down to bite and nip at her neck, occasionally letting out a low moan when he thrust himself into her. Moans spilled from Koudelka's lips as she arched up desperately against the man over her, crying his name in an almost pleading tone.

"Shh… There are guards everywhere, love." He teased, knowing it wouldn't matter to her.

"I… ah, I don't care, Ulfric! Harder!" She panted in reply, causing him to pick up his pace, slamming into her hard enough to drive him into giving her now bouncing breasts attention, kissing down to the swell of her chest to take a pink nipple between his lips and teeth. He bit down softly and ran his tongue over the now reddened nub in his mouth, groaning as her walls tightened softly down around him indicating she was close, causing a bolt of fiery heat to pool in his stomach.

Soft kisses were trailed up her neck to her ear, and she shivered at the ministrations. The pleasure that was setting her nerves afire rendered her incapable of speech.

"Hio enqoth geinmaar." (3)He whispered softly, accenting each word with a hard thrust.

"Hio enqoth geinmaar, Strundu'ul…" (4)

Koudelka gasped loudly at his words, feeling them drive her over the edge as she came with a loud cry of his name, digging her fingers into the man's strong back, leaving angry red crescents in her wake.

The intense pleasure of the woman's already tight walls closing down around him coupled with the light pain from her orgasm induced vice on him caused Ulfric to follow her over the edge. The man bit down none too gently on her neck to be quiet, burying himself deep inside Koudelka to spill his seed within her.

He pulled away from the panting woman's neck, making sure to support himself over her before placing a chaste kiss upon the bite mark before meeting her lips gently.

"I love you more than anything, Koudelka." He mumbled, rolling onto his back. She followed his movement and made herself comfortable on his chest, tucking her head under his chin.

"I love you too," she went silent and held her breath causing Ulfric to look down at her curiously, "this… matter… will be handled by tomorrow. We can go home then." She finished. He took a deep sigh and ran his hand through her long hair.

"I was hoping to solve this in a non-violent fashion, my love." She snorted.

"And I was hoping to end it in a very painful kidnapping. Especially after this morning." His brow raised curiously, reminded of said time.

"Yes… About this morning. What was that about in the courtyard? My King? That's a bit formal for someone with your attitude, let alone a lover." The formality and coldness had been bothering him all day.

"Well," she giggled, "we were being watched. There was a guard on top of the balcony above the dummies. You need to learn to look up. No one ever thinks to."

He grunted and shifted, tugging her hair playfully. "Be quiet. Go to sleep, you'll need to be gone at least by the morning's seventh hour." She complied and relaxed, pressing a small kiss to his chest, over his heart.

Only after Ulfric was sure the woman he loved was asleep, did he let the darkness take over his own conscious as well.

* * *

Koudelka pouted as she tailed Ulfric around with Laila, unbeknownst to the High King. After a long discussion the morning after their lovemaking, the assassin had agreed to give the man until the night to get rid of the woman. Personally she hoped he would fail in the matter, just so she would get to watch the touchy-feely woman asphyxiate in her own bed.

She had watched them all day; the Jarl had been touching, petting, and clinging to the unwilling man for hours on end, no matter where he went. Koudelka was getting angry, and she couldn't help but feel some of it directed towards her lover. He should be shoving Laila off him. But he wasn't. She knew he couldn't in public.

Finally when the evening came, Koudelka was fed up. The man was hesitating and the jealous part of her knew it. However, the larger rational part knew he was waiting for some privacy.

In other words dinner he knew she'd invite him to in her chambers.

Guess who wasn't happy about that?

Regardless of the fact, she planned ahead and slipped through the door to the Jarl's room minutes before they entered, arm in arm. The table had been set up with one chair with the wall behind it, and the other across from it, leaving it open to the room. The doors to the balcony were left wide open to allow air into the room. The assassin's instincts were telling her something was wrong, and she was severely uncomfortable with the setup. '_I'm just being paranoid… Right?'_

When Laila gestured to the chair against the wall for Ulfric, Koudelka straightened from her place against the wall; thanking Talos she had her Shadow Warrior. Ulfric himself even tensed, immediately uncomfortable. His right hand stayed in his lap, close enough to his battle axe to be safe, but far enough to be casual. Things were adding up in way she didn't like. The imperial armor she borrowed, the documents in the Imperial camp, the persistence and clinginess of the other woman in general, trying to get rid of Ulfric's strongest and deadliest warrior?

She was part of The Empire? The Imperial camp to the north of the city was part of her plan to ambush Ulfric was he was still in the city, then that means there would need to be another team to actually get into the Keep to kill him Koudelka mentally cursed. '_There must've been a southern team I didn't find! That's what the plans meant. Thorns! Thalmar. Gods damn this woman!' _Hesitant to leave the man alone, but having no other option, the assassin rushed out the open balcony doors.

Laila sent a charming smile towards Ulfric before taking her seat across from him, taking the green bottle of wine from the table between them to fill her glass. "It's so odd. It seems my cooks are late with dinner. Of all nights, too."

Ulfric shifted a bit and glanced towards the open doors as a thump came from the darkness. "It's alright. I didn't have much of an appetite, Laila. In any case I believe there's something we need to discuss."

She jumped up and laughed. "Oh, I _must _agree with you there, my dearest. We do have plenty to discuss. Perhaps we should just… step out onto the balcony? I was saving it for after our meal, but as you're aware, my cooks are being slightly incompetent today." The Jarl gestured for the man to follow her, and the High King stood, eyeing her warily as he stepped past.

Ulfric turned back to face her, leaning against the railing. His eyes trailed to his left and he held back a smirk. "So, Laila, you go on and tell me what it is you need to speak about. I can wait."

"Hah, well, my dear Ulfric. My discussion is more of a gift. A gift to The Empire. Those who will bring control to Skyrim!" The High King smiled as the woman seemed to wait for something to happen, and walked a few steps to the left, bending to pick something up. "That's why you need to be killed. The threat on my life was the perfect way to hand you over. That little assassin of yours was hard to lose. Just when I thought we killed her, she pops back up, the little bitch. But she's nowhere to be found now, is she?"

Ulfric growled softly at the words she used, straightening and walking to lean on the wooden doorframe into the bedroom. "And would this," he lifted he arm to reveal the head of a Thalmar agent, eyes open in confusion and blood staining the once perfect platinum hair, "be your gift to me, Laila?" He discarded the gruesome site back onto the balcony. The woman before him looked in horror at the site, fear taking over her eyes and she stepped backwards several paces.

Warm breath wisped over the deceitful woman's ear, and her body stilled in shock as pain flashed through her system. Ulfric stood up straight as blood soaked through the redheaded woman's dress, surprised as his lover appeared from her fog behind Laila.

"I told you," she ran the blade deeper into Laila's flesh, "_I know._"

Koudelka let the body drop down onto the floor, locking eyes with Ulfric. The space between them closed and he cupped her face in his hands, pushing her cowl down to kiss her softly. He brushed her blond bangs from her eyes, tucking them behind her ear.

"People are going to start thinking I'm weak, with you killing assassins without me even being aware of their presence." He teased, leaning his forehead against hers. She smiled and pressed the blade of her second dagger horizontally against his abdomen.

"I'm sorry Ulfric, but we need to make this look like an ambush. No one else knew but her and those Thalmar, along with a few Imperials who are deceased as of last night." She looked up at the man sadly and he smiled and nodded to reassure her.

"I've taken much worse than a slice to my stomach. Don't worry yourself, I trust you, go ahead." Koudelka sliced through him easily; deep enough to need tending yet nothing deadly that she couldn't care for herself. He winced and hissed softly from the pain, planting a chaste kiss on her forehead.

"Once you get the signal to go ahead, you don't even hesitate, hm?" She smirked and shook her head, directing him to sit and keep pressure on the open wound.

"I need to make it look like they killed her, be good and sit still for me. Or I'll add to it." Koudelka threatened, moving outside to the balcony to pick up a blooded Thalmar soldier and his abandoned elven sword. She dragged them both into the room, nearly jumping out of her skin when the body was taken from her by Ulfric.

"Why aren't you on the bed where I _left you_?!" He let out a small laugh and tossed the body over by Laila's own. Koudelka stabbed the sword through the woman's corpse, over her own dagger's mark which widened and overwrote the wound, making it appear as though the soldier killed her. Ulfric stood next to the woman's corpse and sighed, a deep frown overcoming his features. He closed his eyes and whispered a soft prayer and Koudelka watched him sadly.

"This is sad. Very, very sad. How could it come to this? Can I trust no one?" She frowned and pressed her hand over his wound with a caring softness.

"You trust me with your life; you've shown me that countless times. Your trust means more than anything, and earning that was something _that_ woman didn't do. This is not sad. She betrayed you, tried to kill me, and sided with those Thalmar bastards." Koudelka explained gently, tugging him down to press her lips to his own lightly.

"You're right. About everything. We'll take care of this mess, and then go home." He wrapped her in his arms and she smiled, happy to be back together with the man she loved.

They'd endure everything, no matter how difficult the challenge or how outnumbered they were.

* * *

Thank you for reading! I really hope you guys enjoyed this continuation, I kinda struggled with it, so sorry if it's not up to my normal standard. On top of that it was my very first lemon, so teehee... *Blushes* Don't be too harsh! Leave a review if you can too, please! Thank you, see you next chapter!


	9. Sometimes Being Fluffy Helps

**A/N:** Boo! Teehee! Back already with another chapter! So I went away to visit my sister in New York, and that's a lot of travel time. So I've come up with a few stories/scenes to post after this, once I actually figure out how to get them on paper! *Anime sweatdrop* Anyyhow! This is kinda a fluffy thing, considering the 3 prompts practically wrote themselves. It was too cute to resist tho! So enjoy!

**timeywimeyspaceywacey: **I'm happy I made you cheer! It's good to know I didn't continue it for naught! Oh my lord. *Blushes* Thank you, haha, I had to stop writing a few times because I was blushing. *Facepalm* Such a shy person. My poor friend Joshie had to hear the blunt of my squeeing.

**Lvl34potato: **You are indeed promoted! Teehee. *Flashes new potato-weapons* NINJATATO! Thank you too for loving the lemon! Like I said to timey, it took me a lil while to write. I was so nervous over it being bad. Laila so deserved it! Koudelka deserved the loving after 7 chapters of not getting any serious lovin xD! Enjoy!

**lita2extreme: **Hey! I missed your reviews the last chapters, I thought I lost you! D: haha. I'm so happy to hear how much you love my story, you really made me smile a lot! I can totally understand the part about short reviews on first chapters; a lot of stories aren't continued past the first. *Glances around nervously*

Disclaimer: I do not own or profit off anything I'm writing. However Koudelka is mine and you may not use or take her for your leisure. Thank you!

**Important Notes for this Chapter:**

There are no individual notes, but this chapter is **set** before Ulfric and Koudelka really even like each other. This is kinda one of the first good experiences they have, even if it is kinda bad. I'm planning to write more about their pre-relationship soon.

**Chapter Three-Word Promts:**

**1: **Wabbajack

**2: **Folklore

**3: **Accidental snuggles.

Like I said, wrote itself xDD

**Chapter Rating: K. **It's all fluff and not to romantic, mostly humor!

Anyhow, enjoy!

* * *

The Jarl of Windhelm glanced up as the newer member of his army strode through their encampment near Whiterun, carrying an odd cloth-wrapped object on her back. She headed towards his mapped table to report to them. He had previously been going over plans for the attack with his general, Galmar. Said man had completely lost the Jarl's attention when their scout had returned.

Normally Ulfric wouldn't send scouts considering none of their soldiers were trained for such things but this woman seemed to have a gift with the shadows, preventing her from getting caught while snooping. However, she also had a silver tongue to match if the situation were to arise where she did get caught. It was as if Sithis himself made the assassin with his own hands.

The man had never seen her face before, aside from the Helgen incident, and for obvious reasons he didn't remember much of a stranger's face. However he did distinctly remember her eyes. This coincidentally was all the Brotherhood cowl permitted. The damn woman stubbornly refused to wear the Stormcloak armor, calling it loud and a burden. Then again, for her type of work it probably was. The woman he had been pondering interrupted his thoughts.

"You're a war-leader, not a damn Psijic. Pay attention, Stormcloak!" Her attitude. Did he mention her attitude?

By Talos! That was a charmer.

"They've received a few men from Tullius guarding the gates. They're stationed here," she pointed to the location on their map, "and here." Koudelka glanced up to confirm that the man had been listening that time, drawing a chuckle from Galmar.

Ulfric failed miserably to silence the other male with a glare.

"Stormcloak."

"Yes, yes, I've got it." Who was the leader again? He turned his head back to the woman in front of him, nodding to an area over her shoulder. "And what is that… staff?"

She huffed softly. "Personal business, not Stormcloak related." With those words, the blonde woman turned on her heel and headed out to her own camp further in the woods.

* * *

Koudelka examined the newest addition to her equipment carefully. She retrieved it from her house in Whiterun while she had been checking the guard posts, seeing as how she had just stored it without really looking at it to rush to her next quest. The heads carved into the top of the staff held a slightly disturbing expression. Aside from that, it looked like a fairly normal staff. Her brows furrowed slightly.

"I can't even feel any power in this thing…"

The lack of apparent energy made the woman wonder if the Insane god had even given her a gift, or if he had just given her a pretty stick. Maybe it really _was_ just a stick.

She was so involved wither examination that she didn't hear the footfalls behind her until they were already too close for her comfort.

By the time the first word was out of the intruder's mouth, a charge had been fired in surprise from the Wabbajack.

A small squeak left the assassin's mouth at the flash of bright light. Seems it was more than just a nice looking staff. She opened her eyes, blinking a few times to rid herself of the odd spot in her vision.

"Oh, in the name of Talos! You must be kidding me. _That's_ what it does?" Koudelka stared at the light reddish-tan rabbit in front of her before rubbing her forehead in exasperation. The clothes crumpled around the large rodent were a dead giveaway but she was praying to all the gods…

"Ulfric...?" She asked hesitantly.

Any hope she had was shot down when the rabbit looked up at her with abnormally green (and angry) eyes.

"Oh, fuck me." Koudelka sighed. They had a huge invasion tomorrow, and their leader had been turned into a _fucking bunny._

The woman couldn't help but giggle at the idea of a miniature axe-wielding bunny Ulfric. She closed the space between them with a few small steps, kneeling before the rabbit with an apologetic smile, despite the fact he couldn't see it with her cowl on.

"You're going to kill me, aren't you?" When the furry creature nodded, she smiled wider. Koudelka picked the fluffy ball of angry Jarl up.

"Um, well according to the folklore surrounding the Wabbajack," she entered her tent and settle the rabbit onto her bed of furs, "it should wear off in a few hours… The staff is more defensive than offensive."

Koudelka was completely clueless to what her rebellion leader was thinking, but if the huffing and twitching of his nose was anything to go by, he was furious.

The assassin huffed softly and crossed her arms. "Sleep here tonight, Galmar will gut you as a bun… rabbit. You should be better by tomorrow…" She hesitated for a moment before walking out of the tent to gather the mess of crumpled clothes and carry them inside. If anyone for some reason came to her secluded camp, they would see them outside.

When she returned, Ulfric had migrated from the center of her furs to the corner, leaving room for her to lie.

"Thank you." She whispered, tossing his clothes carelessly on top of the chest she had squeezed in the small space.

This may be her fault, but she was no housewife. Especially to him.

It was late into the night, and staying up further would only rouse suspicion if the Jarl's absence was to be noticed.

Koudelka blew the lantern in her tent out, sending a quiet mental goodnight to Shadowmere. She proceeded to tug her cowl off, releasing her hair from its tangled bun. She didn't particularly care Ulfric was there considering he was a rabbit; however she aired on the side of caution and kept her armor in place. She didn't know if the man would be angry enough to hurt her when he awoke. She had learnt not to hope for the best in life.

The woman drew back the top layers of furs to slip between them. The now miniaturized Ulfric wisely moved out of her way before resettling into his previous position by her pillow. He was surprisingly calm for the situation. Then again, he wasn't left with much choice but to sleep off the spell like Koudelka had said.

"Albeit you do sort of deserve it." The rabbit huffed and snorted, which really just sounded more like an enraged squeak. The blonde turned on her side to face the temporary rabbit.

"You do, I mean, maybe I've just misunderstood your cause. I thought you were fighting for Skyrim _and_ her people. Yet her people are of mixed races. Not just Nords. My real question to you is; what are you _really _fighting for? Food for thought." Koudelka finished and turned to her other side to rest for the night, leaving Ulfric to think.

* * *

When the woman awoke she assumed it was near dawn. She sleepily glanced at the small gap between her tent flaps to confirm her thoughts. The second thing she noticed was that she was abnormally warm. The Skyrim nights were not kind to those who were not well prepared. While she was mostly alright without a constant fire, some nights still made her shiver, she wasn't as resilient or built like other Nords, making her suspect she wasn't even fully Nord. Her past life was still a mystery to her though. She couldn't remember anything before Helgen.

Next she noticed strong arms wrapped around her waist and what she realized was a man's front pressed tightly against her back.

_Ulfric._

Her first instinct was to throw the man off her, but when she stopped to think, maybe that wasn't such a great idea. After all, it would probably cause both parties to be embarrassed. She was confused as to why he was still there though. Most of his clothes were back on, but he returned to her when he could've just left? Maybe just he didn't desire anyone to see him leaving her tent in the middle of the night.

So she lay with him for the few hours between her waking and his own, enjoying the foreign but enjoyable feeling of warmth from another body. When he sat up she pretended to be asleep still as he pulled away from her. Koudelka missed the heat of his body, but stayed quiet as she listen to the rustling of his furs being placed back on his body. After it stopped she didn't hear the noise of him leaving the tent.

She flinched when a roughened hand cupped her cheek, but continued with her fraudulent slumber.

"I claim to fight for Skyrim, yet only protect the Nords, eh?" She fought to hold back a blush as his fingers traced her cheek a few times before withdrawing. Koudelka heard him shuffling a bit more before exiting the tent. She let out a sigh of relief.

* * *

After the large force of Stormcloak soldiers returned to Windhelm from their victorious fight over Whiterun, Koudelka was surprised at what she saw.

The Gray Quarter was under renovations.

She gave their leader a confused look, which was answered with a small smirk and a wink, causing a familiar heat in her cheeks and an unreasonable anger in her stomach for making her blush so much within a few days.

He was the most aggravating man she had ever met.

* * *

Thank you for reading, peoples :D Drop a review if you can! See you next chapter!


	10. Wolf Totems and Ancient Spells

**A/N: **I'm back againnnn! Hopefully a bit faster than last time, but my plot bunnies have been driving me mad and distracting me with small paragraphs that could be in other chapters! (Threatens bunnies with a vaccum) Grrsies. Evil little things. Anyhow! I did a few strange things in this chapter that I REALLY hope you all like. :s Leave feedback on your thoughs, I'm realllyyyy not too confident in this chapter. (Sigh) u.u

**Lvl34potato: **Yes yes! I was in New York with nothing but time and bunnies. Teehee. You can thank Jerry for that story prompt with the bunny Ulfric xD And awwh! A kitten! Is it yours? I love animals. Thank you for yet another lovely review! :3

**Teddy bear 007: **First off, your user name is adorable. I want a 007 teddybear. Second, thank you SO much for the review! It really means a ton, I'll definitely keep going thanks to people like you!

**Katschaba:** I'm glad you enjoyed it! Haha, I couldn't help it xD As soon as Jerry said 'Wabbajack' I thought bunny. It was just too tempting. Thank you for the review!

**Mrsmiawallace88: **Teehee! I'm so glad you liked the lovin'! I really was nervous about it. :s Haha… I must admit I wish I was her too (Star struck eyes) Thanks for leaving your thoughts!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own or profit off anything I'm writing. However Koudelka is mine and you may **not** use or take her for your leisure. Thank you! This is getting sooo annoying to put. You guys get it by now, right? Right.

**Important Notes for this Chapter:**

Uh, there was probably one somewhere I just forgot to number, maybe not. Basically just a few new ideas and thoughts on characters I'm kinda unsure about. I mean, I love the idea, but it's up to you guys.

**Chapter Three-Word Prompts:**

**1: **Beast

**2: **Shadowmere

**3: **Relics

**Chapter Rating: K+. **It has some mentions of sexual situations, some blood. Nothing too bad.

Enjoy my little darlings!

* * *

Ulfric knew there was something off about Koudelka since she had returned from Whiterun. The woman had been tense and anxious, eyes darting to almost every sound and movement. When they had retired for the night their lovemaking had been extremely rough, a near constant battle for dominance that he had ultimately conquered.

His brows furrowed as he looked towards the woman's tensed form that was unusually secluded on the other side of the bed. Koudelka could practically feel his stare as she tried to suppress her shudders, confused and scared as the beast within her snarled. A large hand was placed upon the woman's shoulder in both comfort and confusion when her body flinched and jolted from a large snap in the hearth.

She needed to get away.

The Jarl watched in surprise as the eerily graceful assassin practically stumbled out of bed, grabbing his discarded white shirt.

"Kou?" He half expected her to throw it at him, or something to express her distress or anger, which he assumed was directed at him from her behavior. However, he did not expect the woman to slip his shirt on and head towards the door.

"Koudelka!"

He quickly leapt out of his bed, snagging his previously absent pants off of the wooden step of the platform his bed was raised on. The man barely laced them up before he was pursuing the off balance woman.

Koudelka was pushing the door to the strategy room open; struggling like the door itself weighed the same as a large horse. The man prayed to the gods only Galmar was in there.

"Love, you cannot go out there!" Ulfric pleaded in a fruitless whisper, skipping the last four stairs to the door just as she stepped out into the room.

"Hah! You don't know the _slightest _thing about war, Jorleif my young friend! Stick to minding Ulfric's paperwork, eh?"

The older General's laugh was cut short as Koudelka stumbled in wearing nothing aside from his leader's much oversized shirt on her body. The Stone-Fist stared for a moment with his mouth half open before he practically throwing himself at the door to the short hallway that was separating the throne room from their current room, cutting Jorleif off mid-scolding by shutting it in his face.

Koudelka leaned heavily against the wall by the door she just came through, panting. "Are you mad, woman?!" Galmar questioned in a harsh whisper, eyes moving up to Ulfric as he burst inside the room after the assassin.

"Ulfric, how bad can you be to make her run like that?" He half jested confused as to what in the name of the Divines was going on. The woman slid down the wall onto her knees, whimpering and leaning forward while pressing a hand against her chest in pain. The Jarl kneeled in front of her quickly and pressed his lips to her forehead, withdrawing in shock at the sheer heat rolling off the assassin. He cupped her face to show he was there, she looked as though she wasn't focused enough to see.

"Love, what's happening? What's wrong with you?" Ulfric questioned her in complete concern, brushing her cheekbones with the pads of his thumbs. "Koudelka, are you sick? Did a spell hit you? Tell me anything you can, let me help you." The two men in the room were surprised as a feral snarl slipped past her lips before she gasped and bit down on her lower lip harshly.

"I-it hu… hurts. I need… to," a pained gasp left her mouth, "get away… from people. Ulfric, please…" The woman whimpered. Ulfric looked back at Galmar before slipping his arm on Koudelka's trembling back, leaning her against his chest before slipping his other arm under her knees to easily lift the woman. He turned to Galmar and walked to the table at the left side of the room.

The younger man nodded towards his furs he had discarded earlier in the night he went to drink with the Stone-Fist. "Galmar, wrap her up quickly." The Jarl offered a strained smile in thanks as the older man set to his given task. Ulfric sat and settled the assassin in his lap while Galmar wrapped her. He hurriedly tugged on a pair on fur boots.

"Ulfric, what's going on with her?" The elder man questioned, concerned for the shaking and feverish woman. The man in question rose to stand and shook his head, walking towards the door with Koudelka in his arms.

"I'm honestly not sure, Galmar." He kicked the door open with a hurried pace while thanking Talos Jorleif abandoned his conquest of arguing with Galmar, doing his best not to jostle the woman in his arms, while she, unbeknownst to him, struggled to contain her insane Beast.

* * *

Shadowmere flared his nostrils and huffed as the strong scent of werewolf caught his attention, moving from his stall to trot up the bridge to the city. He increased his pace to a canter when the Deadric horse saw the pair of Nords. Ulfric could tell the beast in front of him was desperately trying to communicate to his near unresponsive master. His eyes switched to Ulfric.

"_What's caused this? Her Beast Blood is much more potent than it's ever been. She's fighting the change, but she's in masses_ _of pain." _The man's brows furrowed and he placed the assassin sidesaddle on the dark horse's shoulders, in front of the saddle.

"I'm aware you don't particularly allow others onto your back aside her, but this is urgent." Ulfric mounted the uneasy beast smoothly and settled softly. He pulled Koudelka to lean against him for support.

"She told me we need to get her away from people; take Dunmeth Pass to the water." Shadowmere begrudgingly accepted both the new weight and the instructions given to him, quickly departing from the bridge.

* * *

Ulfric dismounted the horse and gently lifted the woman down with him. "Now what, darling?" She took a shaky breath.

"Put me down and get away from me." She practically snarled, a growl lurking in her voice. Ulfric glanced down at her, hesitantly setting her upon the snow covered grown, stepping back to stand next to Shadowmere. The horse glanced towards him.

"_Don't move, but don't be afraid."_

What happened next shocked the Jarl.

The woman before him changed completely. Her body elongated and morphed, the sounds of bones stretching and cracking filled the crisp night air. In a sudden surge of shifting, a full sized wolf laid panting heavily on the ground. Sandy fur coated her and her chest heaved with every breath.

Ulfric knew the woman was a werewolf, although he'd never seen her change. However, Ulfric did know that werewolves did _not_ shift into a full wolf. He turned his head to Shadowmere, his eyes not leaving the exhausted form before him.

"What's happened to her? Has she always turned that way?" The horse answered in the negative, but supplied him with a theory.

"No, never. I've never heard of this happening in any lands, and I've been around for centuries... However," the horse took a few steps towards the heaving creature, "we did a few strange quests with the person who shared the gift of the Blood with my Rider."

The man looked towards the horse curiously, waiting for him to continue. The black horse pressed his snout to the wolf's face, and she shakily started to stand.

The wolf was slightly taller and broader than Shadowmere himself, and powerful muscles were visible under her course fur. The horse backed up to give her a few feet of breathing room. The wolf threw an abnormally bright emerald glance to the man before abruptly turning 180 degrees and dashing off into the woods. Ulfric stared after her in shock. He quickly ran to the tree line before looking back at the departing horse.

"What sorts of items? Should we follow her?" The horse was headed down to the icy waters, turning back to look at the man.

"She'll return to you when she's ready. I'm going back to my realm to find out more about this… curiosity. We gathered totems of Hircine with a woman named Aela." With that, the horse proceeded into the water, the liquid turning an inky black around the beast until he was gone.

The man stared for a while into the forest where Koudelka had disappeared before walking to retrieve his abandoned furs. The night air had begun to bite into his bare flesh harshly, but he barely registered it the entire ride, his mind was too focused on Koudelka. He draped the furs around his shoulders and turned to walk back to Windhelm.

She would return when she was ready.

* * *

Koudelka barreled through the forest, pure energy coursing through her new body. Her mind was foggy, almost completely overtaken by animalistic instincts as she plowed into a clearing. She came to an abrupt halt and perked her sensitive ears up. Her head cocked to the side while emerald eyes set themselves on an oddly lone mammoth in the middle of the clearing.

Before her human mind could register a plan, she was shooting across the field to sink her teeth into the animal's thick leg. She could hear the sound of its humorous splintering under the vice of her jaw. The mammoth snorted angrily and sent her flying off his leg with a well-aimed tusk to her side.

As soon as her four paws hit the ground she was on another offensive strike to the beast in front of her. Koudelka leapt with her lips drawn back in a vicious snarl, sinking her piercing teeth deeply into the animal's jugular. The wolf heard the mammal's fractured humorous snap as the animal put its sizable weight on the injured limb in an attempt to throw her off.

The beast let out a bellow of pain as its leg collapsed out from under it, his large body swiftly following suit.

Koudelka wasted no time in bracing her large paws on either side of the animal's throat where her teeth were buried. She tore the flesh out and ended the giant beast's suffering.

The werewolf's head cleared after the kill, the thrill and drive dying down with the blood coating her once white canines. '_That was worse than my first change…'_ The woman slowly started examining her body, taking note of multiple new things. First she noticed she had full conscious control over herself. There was no beast in the recesses of her mind snarling for blood and murder. It was as if she simply _was _the wolf.

The second thing she took note of was that she had no subconscious trickle of time until her form reverted back to human. _'Can I change on my own freewill?' _She wanted to test this theory badly. Koudelka shifted nervously and let out a small whine, closing her eyes to concentrate on a full reversion to her human form.

The wolf felt her bones retracting and morphing, her fur started thinning out until it was just back to the hair on her head. She gasped heavily, kneeling on the ground before remembering with dread that in her rush, she didn't bring clothing. A giant wolf striding into Windhelm in the dead of night wouldn't go so well…

"My my. Dearest Rider, you've gotten yourself into quite the predicament, hm?" The blonde woman whipped her head around to examine the all too familiar voice that wasn't just an echo in her head, but an actual sound in her ears.

A tall man garbed in a simple black shirt with a pair of black pants and riding boots stood before her, a hooded cloak draped around his shoulders. Soft tendrils of his raven hair fell into his face, while playful crimson irises practically glowed through the thin strands.

"S-Shadow?" Koudelka questioned, canting her head in curiosity. "How are you human?"

The Deadric creature simply laughed with a teasing and cunning smile. Devilish. "My dear, I have many forms. I returned to my realm to… investigate those totems, which by the way _are_ in fact the cause of your new form."

The man took his cloak off, bending to drape it around Koudelka's shoulders before helping her to stand. "Well… Gods, what's your true name?" The once-horse chuckled and easily lifted the Dragonborn into his arms.

"Little one, I have no true name! You may continue to address me as Shadowmere if you so wish." She put up a rather amusing struggle as her cheeks colored in embarrassment.

"You don't have to carry me all the way to Windhelm, Shadow! I can walk." His brow perked in amused confusion.

"It would be faster, I'm sure your new discovery has exhausted you. Plus," his mischievous smirk came back, "you are still my Rider, and I, your steed." She pouted and huffed.

* * *

The trip back to Windhelm was filled with playful teasing after an extensive explanation on how the totems cursed (or gifted, depending on how you looked at it) her.

Once they passed the doors of the snowy city however, it was as if all eyes were on them. Koudelka shifted in Shadowmere's arms uneasily, wishing she had her cowl to hide under. The Deadric being, who was previously throwing terrifyingly murderous glares to frighten anyone who looked at them, seemed to sense her discomfort. He shifted her weight to one arm and tugged the cloak's hood over her head protectively.

Needless to say, the immediate reaction of Ulfric seeing a strange man cradling_ his_ lover brought a mischievous grin to both herself and the Deadric holding her.

A fire was quickly sparked in evergreen eyes, the man furiously stalking to Shadowmere in a way that almost made him feel threatened.

Almost.

Ulfric's venomous glare didn't lessen as he gently but swiftly stole Koudelka out of the stranger's arms. She crossed her arms and huffed.

"I swear to Talos if I wasn't so sore I'd beat you both silly for carrying me like I was helpless." Ulfric sighed through his nose and set the woman on her feet, keeping her against him with a strong arm around her waist. She didn't mind. He grunted when the assassin jabbed his ribs, looking down at her with an expression that clearly read '_What?'_

"Would you _stop _your glaring?! That's Shadowmere. He came back like that because horses _mysteriously_ can't write." The man looked up at the Deadric, who canted his head with a charming smile.

"It would seem we meet on equal ground Ulfric! I must say, it is quite unfortunate I'm no longer taller than you in this form." He sighed melodramatically. "It was rather amusing to look down on the great Rebellion Leader." His crimson gaze playfully fell upon Koudelka, who just slipped her hood off.

"However, I can still look down upon the short, tiny, little Dragonborn." Ulfric pressed a hand to his face as the woman processed the words. She let out a growl of rage.

"FUS RO mmph!" The Nord male quickly clamped his hand over her mouth before she could finish the shout, tightening his grip on the flailing woman's waist.

So much for her being sore.

"Could we _please_ avoid putting a hole in my palace walls?!" He pleaded in an exasperated manner, wincing as she bit his hand lightly(for her) in revengeful agreement. He let her mouth go.

"Well," interrupted Shadowmere, finally containing his laughs of playfully sadistic merriment, "I'll be off for the night." He flashed a fanged smile before turning on his heel. The two could only assume he was off to hunt.

"Be back by tomorrow! I want to go have a word, or fifty, with Aela!" Her request was acknowledged with a salute before the large door shut behind the raven haired man.

Ulfric smiled and pressed a kiss to the top of the woman's head before sweeping her off her feet in one smooth motion to take her back up to their room. She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck happily.

* * *

"So, when you placed all the totems on their altars, it essentially gave you the ultimate wolf spirit?" Ulfric quested, absentmindedly stroking the woman's hair. She snuggled against the older man more, tucking her head under his chin. She was exhausted.

"Mhmm… Although it'll be a huge advantage… I'm sure… Aela meant it," she yawned lightly, nuzzling his neck, "to be for her!" She ended the sentence with sleepy enthusiasm as if finishing that sentence was a huge accomplishment. Ulfric chuckled.

"Go to sleep, lovely." He murmured. He could get a better explanation out of her tomorrow.

He was almost positive she was asleep before he finished the sentence.

* * *

Teehee... Like I said, really nervous about this chapter. Like should I keep Shadowmere's human form a normal thing? Like he can revert to and from whenever he wants? And Koudelka's wolf form? Please lemme know in reviews! Even the silent followers please D: I dunno about this stuffie. I may come up with a name for Shadow in his human form if it's a common occurrence.

On a side note! I may post another chapter today or tomorrow, it's just a really short drabble snippet thing, seriously. Like 100 words(Unless I get lost while typing it up). But it's a serious chapter.

See you sweeties next time! Bye!


	11. Sanguine

**A/N: **Well, not toooo much to say here since I updated so fast. I know this one is short, but it was a fast update. I may have another tomorrow if I get enough reviews.

**Teddy bear 007: **Haha :D I'm happy you liked the idea and wanna see it again! Hopefully when I get more views about it I'll make my choice. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **You know how it is. :(

**Chapter Rating: T **There's none descriptive sex, but it's still sex.

* * *

She never claimed to be completely sound of mind. But then again, neither did he.

He knew the writhing woman under him better than any other has ever known her. He claimed her as his own in so many ways. The blood on his hands (and oh, there was just _so _much of the crimson liquid coating them) left prints. Long, streaked, gruesome prints that only his eyes could see were haphazardly left all over her pale body. Her supple breasts, soft hips, gasping sides, everywhere his calloused touch could taint and caress her.

The king was near positive she was leaving her very own sanguine marks on his slick body.

_Slick with her history's blood, or their passion's sweat?_

She canted her head to the side for him, and he couldn't resist the urge to further stake his claim upon her, both body and soul. He gripped her hip harder in his hand, bracing his weight above her on his other arm. The man nuzzled the woman's exposed neck before sinking his teeth harshly into the willing body under him.

He knew she loved the pain of it, and she knew he loved inflicting the aching feeling all over her body.

After all, he never claimed to be completely sound of mind. But then again, neither did she.

* * *

****Well, like I said it's short, but I liked the idea of it. Seeya next time!


	12. One of Many Ways to Fix Oopsies

**A/N: **Ugh, I hate doing editing on the site, but Word is being such a pain in my heehaw. Anyhow, it's a short lil thing but it's something to read while I work on a bigger one! That might be what I start doing from now on, just little ones between bigger chapters? Would you guys and gals want that? I hope so! Lemme know! I didn't get too too much feedback about Shadowmere and Koudelka's forms, so lemme know about that too please DDD:

**Teddy bear 007: **Hai! I'm working on your prompt right now! I have it (mostly) planned out! I just gotta write it, it may be a lil long, so I might post a few little chapters beforehand! I hope you don't mind! I'm really glad you noticed me not using their names! It was really something I tried to emphasize.

**Lvl34potato: **It's alright, I was kinda surprised. Almost no one has reviewed on chapter ten, so I'm like horrified I drove them off with that idea about the forms! I hope not! (Cries in her corner) It's nice to hear from you tho! I hope you enjoy this one even though it's short.

**Disclaimer: **You know how it is, don't own, but don't steal Kou. Blah blah.

**Important Notes for This Chapter: **None. Zip. Jack, Nada.

**Chapter Rating: K+ **Some mentioning of sex, because Koudelka just can't help to tease people.

* * *

Ulfric thrummed his fingers on the table, filling the empty and awkward silence with a soft noise that seemed ten times louder than it should. He shifted in his seat at the dining table in the throne room, trying his best not to crack a smile.

Koudelka stood behind him, leaning her own back against his. She busied herself polishing an already spotless dagger. Ulfric had a feeling that a rather large smirk graced her features.

Jorleif cleared his throat from across the table, sighing and rubbing his hands nervously.

"While I understand she's your personal assassin, and she should be close to you at all times, I cannot possibly fathom a situation where you would need to have her in a heated lip lock against a kitchen wall!" The dark blond man quickly threw back his goblet of wine.

Koudelka's smirk widened unbeknownst to both men.

She shifted her back against Ulfric's, who tilted his head to look back at her slightly. Koudelka released a dramatic sigh.

"You're right, Jorleif. To be blunt, there was no reasonable excuse. In fact," both men choked with what she said next, both for different reasons, "Ulfric and I rut like fucking animals almost every night. _Oh_, you should just _hear _the noises this man can make. They're just so-"

"Koudelka! I do believe that _is enough._" The High King half-yelled as Jorleif stood abruptly. Koudelka started a random count down.

"Three," Jorleif suddenly looked dizzy.

"Twoooo," She slipped her dagger back into its sheath with a click.

"One." The steward collapsed onto the floor.

"Koudelka…" Ulfric ground out warningly. Said woman turned to face him, bending to wrap her arms around his neck. She pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"Relax, lovely. It's just a potion, he'll wake up an hour. Won't remember a damn thing about this morning." The man smiled and turned his head to press their lips together softly.

"When did you even slip it into his drink?" She raised a hand to tap him on the nose playfully.

"Who said it was in the drink?"

She was gone before he could pull his into his lap for further questioning, leaving the throne room with an echoing and mischievous giggle.

* * *

Lemme know if you liked it! Hope to see you guys next chapter soon!


	13. Upon Crisp Winters

**A/N: **So hi again! Haha, I'm so super happy from all the reveiws on the last chapter made me so happy! Teehee! I was all like squeeeeee! People love me again! This is the result! I get uber happy to type and this kinda semi longish short chapter! I was originally gunna make it only about 800 words, but poof! It's 2,500! xD Thank you so much for all those reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Lvl34potato: **I'm so happy you like them! honestly I'd love to maul that brat -.- and I couldn't help picturing Shadowmere kinda looking like Sebastian from Kuroshitsuji. Perhaps not quite so lean though. I'm glad you like the idea of the short-long chapters!

**Teddy bear 007: **Teehee, I'm glad you love her personaility that much! I'm still working on yours, I'm kinda combining two idea on your prompt that I had, so it's taking a little while to peice it together but I promise I haven't forgotten!

**mrsmiawallace88: **I'mm glad you love her! Don't try to steal her from Ulfric though! He gets mean.

**lita2extreme: **I'm sorry about your net and comp! I've missed your reviews! I was like, no no! Did I lose lita?! Happy to see you're around! And I kinda wanna do more happy time parts, I probably will with your idea, it's absolutely adorable and is something Koudelka and Ulfric would totally do xD Oh lord. Maybe that'll be my next short chapter, but it's gunna have lots of good times. I'm still kinda not too confident in my lemon skills, but I'll try my best for my lovely readers! (Goes on non-stop tangent)

**Metal Strike: **This is very true! She is teh unstoppable Koudelka! Unless Ulfric has his hands on her. She's too tiny to get out of his grasp without some foulplay.

**Disclaimer: **Don't own, blah blah blah.

**Chapter Prompts from Katschaba! I didn't forget!**

**1: **Snow

**2: **Horse

**3: **Roof

**Important Notes for This Chapter:**

No number notes, but this is before they're together. It's kinda like the beginning of her starting to actually like him. Their relationship wasn't always sunshine and rainbows xD I'll get into that in another chapters, perhaps.

And also, (slight **spoiler **come back and read after they find their shelter for the night) The place I imagine them in is just like a big Dwemer machine parts room. Sometimes the have bits of glass cieling if it's high enough. Enjoy!

**Chapter Rating: K. **Nothing bad happens

* * *

It wasn't as though harsh winter storms were something foreign to the frozen terrain of Skyrim, although they always seemed to be colder than the last. No, it was that getting stuck out in the wilderness in the middle of said storms was bad. Very bad. However, this wasn't the first time Koudelka had been stuck out in a harsh winter storm. The one detail that was making this trip miserable was the man next to her.

Ulfric Stormcloak.

While the woman undeniably fought for the Stormcloaks, there were innumerable factors about their leader she couldn't stand. Regardless whether it was the current war on saving the Nord race from rule of the Aldmeri Dominion or not, the man was far too much of a racist towards Elves and Imperials who were just trying to make an innocent living in the land. Furthermore the man always had this damned smirk on his face that she would just love to-

Deep breath.

Something strange happened next.

See, the thing about Dwemer ruins is that, well, their architects were dead. So, there was no one to keep up with the housework. Sure as Sithis the Falmer weren't doing it. Which means if you were to _happen_ to step on a frozen skylight with a heavy footfall (as if you were in a _completely_ hypothetical snowstorm) you'd likely fall right through.

Which Koudelka did with a small yelp of surprise.

'Figures.' She twisted to land on her feet.

When Ulfric heard the distinct crystalline shatter of glass behind him, he feared for his silent and spiteful comrade. He whipped around just as Shadowmere brayed in a startled panic, hoofing at the quickly accumulating snow near an inky black hole. The Jarl quickly knelt down by the hole.

"Koudelka!"

"I'm fine. Damn skylights in these stupid subterranean ruins!" He heard a loud crash, which he presumed was her kicking or shoving something metal out of anger.

The Nord male thought for a moment before glancing up towards the sky. "How far is the drop? The storm is getting pretty bad; we may as well camp in there instead of out here." Ulfric offered, an odd sense of strong relief at her well being filling him.

"It's only about ten feet," she addressed Shadowmere next, "let Ulfric take off our supplies and head back to your realm until I resummon you." Ulfric sent to the task of stripping the Deadric beast of supplies.

* * *

When Ulfric jumped into the old ruins, Koudelka assumed the man would be half frozen from how bad the storm had become while he was tossing their tack and supplies down to her. She glared lightly to see the man wasn't even slightly chilled.

"You work fast." He commented, nodding once towards the rather large fire she had started.

"You work slowly." Koudelka retorted, nodding mockingly towards their gear. She saw the man sigh in exasperation and chose to ignore the noise. Ulfric tossed her one of the two bedrolls carelessly, maybe slightly upset, which she caught and set up close to the fire.

"You know, if you sleep too close to the pit you may roll into it overnight." He muttered in a light jest, laying his own makeshift bed just within the fire's heat.

She huffed and glanced lightly at him, settling to sit on her bedroll before drawing her knees up to her chest. "I don't know how you don't freeze in this weather." Her sentence was involuntarily emphasized with a shiver she had been trying to suppress. Unfortunately for her it didn't escape the older man's eye.

He stared at her for a moment curiously, as if he didn't believe the assassin was chilled enough to shiver. "I'm a Nord... As are you." Ulfric stated the last part in an almost questioning voice.

"Yeah, well I have my suspicions about that..." She trailed off and rubbed her arms slightly, hugging her knees closer to her body. The Jarl slowly stepped towards the fire, settling down on the floor close to the woman's bedroll.

"Well surely you could answer any questions by thinking to your mother and father." He offered, leaning back against the wall of debris behind him.

"Tch. You think I haven't tried that? I can't recall a single memory before Helgen. I'm rather lucky I managed to fish my name out before they tried to cut my head off." Koudelka glanced away and pouted behind her cowl.

"Take off your cowl." Came the soft murmur. She looked at Ulfric as if he had asked her to strip.

"Excuse me? Why?" He chuckled at the look of panic in her eyes, waving his hand dismissively.

"Certain races have certain tributes. Perhaps I can tell by seeing you." Ulfric suggested, shrugging lightly. He would admit it was slight curiosity to see Koudelka's face, but also honest intentions to aid in discovering her heritage. She canted her head, tempted to ignore him.

But as per usual her curiosity got the better of her. Maybe if she knew... She could figure out where she came from? It's always been something that bothered her.

"... Fine." Koudelka slipped her fingers under her hood to quickly slip it off over her head, figuring the faster she got over exposing her face to a man she disliked, the faster she could hide again. She undid the messy bun her hair was in to allow the blonde locks to cascade over her shoulders, catching the light of the fire. The assassin clenched the tie in her fist and glared lightly at Ulfric.

Said man stared at her face for a moment, surprised at the unexpected work of the gods she kept hidden before he sighed softly and shook his head, moving to kneel in front of Koudelka. "You shouldn't hate me so much so silently. At least tell me what your dilemma is with me…" He trailed off and grasped her chin gently between his somehow warm fingers, tilting her head slightly. She surprised herself by not flinching.

"What causes you to believe I have any issues with you?" She questioned, striving to make this conversation as difficult for him as possible.

"Oh, I'm not completely sure about it," he ran the pads of his thumbs over her cheekbones, and Koudelka unexpectedly blushed at the contact making herself almost mortified at the heat in her cheeks, "although it might be all the glares, the mocking, the attitude, the distance, the venom in your eyes, just perhaps." If the man noticed the blush, he showed no sign of it, much to her relief. Ulfric busied himself with the texture of her hair next, not even attempting to catch her evasive eyes.

"Maybe if you weren't _quite_ so raciest against innocents in this land maybe I wouldn't dislike you as much." Koudelka whispered, confused at her desperate mental pleas for the man to stop touching her all the while wanting him to continue.

Much to her relief and disappointment he stopped and pet her on the head teasingly, a soft smile on his face. "You seem completely Nord, Koudelka. Maybe you're just a runt."

He evaded her aggressive punch with a laugh, falling back onto his back. She couldn't help the slightly victorious smirk that crossed her features.

"And I'm not raciest," Ulfric sat up slightly to lean on his elbows, "It's just difficult to trust people, especially Elves and Imperials when _anyone _of them could be a spy, an assassin, a traitor…" He trailed off and met her gaze.

"For all I know you could be one."

At first Koudelka was offended by his accusation, furrowing her brows lightly before she understood the meaning of the words.

"Yet you're willing to turn your back to me, trust me, and sleep in my presence?" He nodded and sat up completely, resting one arm on his bent knee.

"Yes, because ever since I first turned my back to you, you have made no violent actions towards me. You've even protected me in a few cases." She remembered the several times _he_ was overbearingly protective of _her_ in battle, resulting in the rebellion leader to be harmed. That only got the chance to happen once before she fought with him about being able to take care of herself. "While you've been rather… disliking of me, I trust you'd never harm me. However," she met his stare curiously, "while I turned my back to you in cautioned the first time trust, how can you expect me to do that to hundreds of people when two out of ten could have a knife for my back? I can keep an eye on one person, but not hundreds."

She canted her head to the side curiously, honestly never considering the fact the Ulfric was simply being careful to lead Skyrim to freedom and that he wasn't being raciest. "But… people in Windhelm always say you turn your back to those who need help. You don't assist the Khajiit when their caravans are attacked, and you keep the Elves in slums…"

He frowned slightly and Koudelka wished she could take back what she said, somehow it was… nice to see such a toughened man smile in playful humor.

"Koudelka, do you honestly believe I can afford to repair and rebuild the Gray Quarter in the middle of a war that's raging about in our lands? I provide what money I can to them; I don't even have Jorleif firmly collect their mortgage taxes on their residences." He sighed lightly and shook his head, and the woman pouted lightly at being so wrong.

"As far as the Khajiit caravans go, I do send men out to investigate the crimes and even kill off any wolves, bears, cats, anything that are reported to be bothering them. It's just that unfortunately that's the only thing they're best at; killing. As far as thieving and such goes, they're no good at investigations." He paused as if debating if he should continue explaining or not. Seeing that he had her interest still, he chose to. "I can't properly train them to be city guards right now. I need soldiers."

She understood where he was coming from, and looked away from his gaze almost shamefully. "I'm sorry, I really didn't even think…" Koudelka saw him wave a hand in the air dismissively from her peripheral vision.

"Don't worry about that. You didn't know. I guess now that I see it from your eyes I can easily see how I come off as raciest." Ulfric pushed off the ground, offering her a smile before stretching lightly. "We should get some rest. I doubt this place is completely clear of Falmer, knowing those creatures they're just waiting till we fall asleep. I'll take first watch. You rest."

Her brow furrowed again as the man sat against a cracked pillar, ready to argue against him before he held a hand up to stop her, recognizing the look on her face. "Don't argue. I have plenty to think about, I wouldn't be able to sleep anyhow."

She pouted, unable to stop herself from feeling slightly at fault and glared lightly. "And what in the world makes you think that I'll be able to sleep after discovering that I've wrongfully spited a man for well over a month?" He chuckled softly and shifted over to his left a bit, patting the space next to him.

"Come keep watch with me in that case. A runt like you must be frozen in here. You've been shivering off and on since we started talking." He invited her to him warmly, displaying absolutely no form of a grudge for her unreasonable behavior. She was bewildered at it.

She was also bewildered to realize he was right, she was completely frozen.

Koudelka hesitantly left her spot by the fire to sit by his side. If he could trust her with his life, she could return the favor… Right?

However the man didn't get off without a punch to the side and a disgruntled grumble of something along the lines of 'I'm not a runt, you gargantuan oaf.' Yes, something _along _those lines. He simply laughed and shook his head, rubbing his side in mock hurt.

How did this feel so _right?_

She felt another bought of shivering coming on and glared up at the hole in the glass ceiling where snow was innocently falling through.

The man next to her took notice well enough, and debated her reaction to his action before deciding to forget the consciences. He pulled part of his cloak over her shoulders before wrapping an arm around her waist, pulling her against him. He almost laughed at the gasp that left her lips. Almost, before he felt how tense she was against him.

"Relax. I'm warm and you're half frozen, you idiot. Just accept it." Koudelka huffed shakily and rested her head on his shoulder, even if it was to simply prevent him from seeing the pink blush across her cheeks. She had never been in such a personal situation. Was this even personal? Or was it completely normal for people to get so close? They did have a fire…

Sometimes she felt like scolding herself for staying solo for as long as she could remember… which wasn't long.

Fucking Helgen.

For a while, thoughts about her current situation buzzed around in her head, along with her discoveries about the Stormcloak Leader, and strange feelings in her body and head. Eventually she realized she had long since stopped shivering and before she knew it, she was asleep.

The first time she woke herself up was to check on Ulfric and to see if everything was alright. Koudelka knew she had been asleep for at least a few hours and it was well into her turn for keeping watch. Much to her surprise, the man was still wide awake and looked deep in thought. Koudelka felt slightly guilty about it, but she fell back to sleep promising herself she'd take over in an hour.

The second time the blonde woke up she had somehow managed to migrate herself practically into the man's lap, snuggled flush against his chest. Ulfric had wrapped both arms around her, covering them both with his cloak. The woman kept her breathing even, trying not to show the man that she had awoken again, if he was even awake. Heat flooded her cheeks and she buried her face further into his chest.

They were still safe from Falmer, albeit the fire had long since died out. She took a deep breath and braved tilting her head up to glance at the man above her. She was almost mortified to see him look back down at her, causing her to instantly attempt to get off of him.

He held her fast against his own body. "Calm down, you were still cold. It's honestly no harm done, Koudelka." Ulfric addressed her softly and smiled, causing her blush to worsen. How could she have spited a man like this so wrongfully? He had never been anything but kind to her and people surrounding him. Even playful at times to a few.

"I'm sorry, I don't wish to be a liability to you, and obviously you haven't slept. Let me take over." Koudelka requested. The Jarl instantly retaliated.

"There's only about an hour before we should head out. Then a few hours walk to Windhelm, I will rest there. For now, you rest and I'll wake you in an hour." He left no room for argument in his voice, and for some reason she respected his wish and nuzzled back against him slightly, mumbling incoherently with a pout.

After she was long asleep, Ulfric smiled and rested his head on her own, completely alleviated about how their current predicament managed to put some sort of bond between them. The Jarl wished for nothing more than to see their relationship grow.

Although finding their way out of these damned ruins was going to be a pain.

He sighed and shook his head. Talos help him.

* * *

I hope everyone enjoyed! Lemme know if you did or if you saw anything I should fix!


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